autobiography
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of autobiography
Explanation
You are writing an autobiography when you write your own life story. A writer who writes an autobiography is like a painter who paints a self-portrait. If you intend to write your autobiography one day, it might be a good idea to start recording notes about your life in a diary. The author Gertrude Stein was being clever when she poked fun at the very idea of autobiography when she wrote her own memoirs but titled them The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, instead of The Autobiography of Gertrude Stein.
Vocabulary lists containing autobiography
Words to Live By: Bio
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Write On!: Graph and Gram
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To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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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.
His only novel, “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man,” was written during his time in Nicaragua.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
Pascoe also told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne that her agent had advised her against including an anecdote about her abortion in her 2016 book Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
“Brian’s Song” was a TV movie, as were “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “Sybil.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024
Autobiography presents an alternative to identity-blind frameworks that tend to prioritize ideas to the exclusion of individuals and identity-driven frameworks that ignore the power of unifying ideas in favor of individual experience.
From Salon • Nov. 10, 2024
The Autobiography ofMalcolm X has served as an everlasting testament to my father’s life and legacy.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
