self-actualization

[self-ak-choo-uh-luh-zey-shuhn, self-ak-]

noun

Psychology.

1. the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.

self-actualization

noun

1. psychol the process of establishing oneself as a whole person, able to develop one's abilities and to understand oneself

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-actualization¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Any humiliations Crowe might have suffered as an uncertain teen were for his mother merely speed bumps on the journey to self-actualization, ideally as a lawyer.

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“I think of myself as an evolved and self-actualized woman,” she says with a laugh.

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Once again, Song uses a love triangle plot to explore her ideas about self-actualization.

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My favorite writers certainly thought so with the most popular books that year being about divorce and self-actualization: “All Fours” by Miranda July, “Splinters” by Leslie Jamison and “Liars” by Sarah Manguso.

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The artist turns the self-actualization aphorism “Fake it till you make it” into the work’s self-deprecating title, as if faking can only result in fakes.

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