self-governed
Americanadjective
-
governed by itself or having self-government, as a state or community; independent.
- Synonyms:
- autonomous
- Antonyms:
- dependent
-
self-regulating; self-determining.
-
exercising self-restraint or self-control.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-governed
First recorded in 1700–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Returning from his Beijing summit with the Chinese leader, the president said that “nothing’s changed” in the U.S. policy toward the democratic, self-governed island.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
As for China, President Xi Jinping has made few outright threats against the self-governed island of Taiwan recently.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
Taiwan’s religious diversity and vitality forms a kind of subsoil of the self-governed island’s identity and values.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2024
Taiwan’s Taiex declined 0.2% to 17,512.83 on the eve of presidential and legislative elections that will test the self-governed island’s relations both with Beijing and with Washington.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
He would have no self-governed sheep in his fold.
From La Sorcière: The Witch of the Middle Ages by Jules Michelet
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
