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autodidacticism

American  
[aw-toh-dahy-dak-tuh-siz-uhm] / ˌɔ toʊ daɪˈdæk təˌsɪz əm /

noun

  1. the process or practice of learning a subject without a teacher or formal education; self-education.

    Abraham Lincoln is viewed as a model of autodidacticism.

Etymology

Origin of autodidacticism

autodidactic + -ism

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.

The spirit of the catalogue—its irreverence toward institutions, its emphasis on autodidacticism, and its sunny view of computers as tools for personal liberation––appeals to a younger generation of technologists.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 16, 2018

Mr. Mac might be the smartest man in the room, but he has often felt the least-educated one, and the “24-Decade History” is, among other things, a disgorgement of his committed autodidacticism.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2016

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.