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

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

Systems that require suppressing feedback or distorting reality have to fight their own optimization to stay aligned, and that fight gets worse with every generation of recursive self-improvement.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

The reality TV star said six months in county jail — without cameras and her creature comforts — proved to be a period of self-improvement and empowerment.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

Seventy percent said they had issues with self-improvement media - involving toxic messaging or body shaming.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025

For instance: convenience, travel, fitness, experiences, freedom, relationships, generosity, luxury, social status and self-improvement.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 21, 2025

This may be grounds for suspicion by the reader and a prod to self-improvement for the writer, but it is not a failure of consistency or logic.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker