self-driven
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of self-driven
First recorded in 1780–90
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.
“Whether or not you end up doing that, it puts you on a path of just thinking bigger, going above and beyond, having the incentive of self-driven goals that just ultimately build better community members.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
As Aseema Sinha, author of Globalizing India: How Global Rules and Markets are Shaping India's Rise to Power, observed, this period was marked by "a self-driven industrialisation drive, export pessimism, and suspicion of global alliances".
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2025
That search for something bigger, he said, can take on many forms, from following a religion to crafting a self-driven purpose to believing in, of course, angels.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
We will see whether Mälkki’s stature, after Helsinki, translates to a new music directorship or a more self-driven freelance career.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2023
He can readily remove the pain he has carelessly caused; but rasp and file can never dull those self-driven points which rankle in our tortured flesh, each onward step forcing them deeper and deeper in.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 95, September 1865 by Various
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.
