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Synonyms

inner-directed

American  
[in-er-di-rek-tid, -dahy-] / ˈɪn ər dɪˈrɛk tɪd, -daɪ- /

adjective

  1. guided by internalized values rather than external pressures.

inner-directed British  

adjective

  1. guided by one's own conscience and values rather than external pressures to conform Compare other-directed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • inner-direction noun

Etymology

Origin of inner-directed

First recorded in 1945–50

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 inner-directed aesthetic concerns a queen’s personal identity.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2023

A couple of passages can be read as inner-directed.

From Washington Post • Oct. 3, 2022

In the book, Eureka Factor, researcher John Kounios shares the importance of inner-directed attention:

From Time • Aug. 27, 2015

The story, claustrophobically set in the parish grounds of a Roman Catholic church in the Bronx and inner-directed in its drama, lacks classic qualities of opera, typically the most extroverted of forms.

From New York Times • Feb. 3, 2013

Full of mumbo-jumbo about "inner-directed" and "outer-directed" personalities.

From This Crowded Earth by Bloch, Robert

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.