self-improvement

American  

[self-im-proov-muhnt, self-] / ˈsɛlf ɪmˈpruv mənt, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. improvement of one's mind, character, etc., through one's own efforts.

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self-improvement British  

noun

1. the improvement of one's status, position, education, etc, by one's own efforts

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-improving
  adjective
• self-improver
  noun
• self-improvable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of self-improvement

First recorded in 1735–45

Explanation

The process of making yourself a better or more knowledgable person can be called self-improvement. Doing sit-ups every night and learning to speak Mandarin might be part of your new self-improvement routine. Anything you do in an attempt to improve yourself is self-improvement. Volunteering at a homeless shelter, going to college, learning to meditate — all of these things can lead to self-improvement. Often, self-improvement and self-help are used interchangeably. The improvement part of this word originally meant "making money with something," but by the 1640s it came to mean "the act of making better."

Example Sentences

If he has traveled an arc of self-improvement, it has still landed him in a pretty rotten place.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2026

The post cautions that recursive self-improvement hasn’t yet happened and isn’t inevitable, “but could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

"We are not there yet, and recursive self-improvement is not inevitable," the report said, while adding that it could arrive sooner than most governments and institutions are ready for.

From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026

Which is how, after years of culinary self-improvement, I found myself becoming an evangelist for some of the least glamorous products in the grocery store.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

So there was no time for self-improvement until well into the afternoon.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman