self-devotion
Americannoun
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intense devotion of oneself to an activity or to a field or profession, as art or science.
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devotion of oneself to the care or service of another or others; self-sacrifice.
Her self-devotion to her sick mother prevented her from finishing college.
Other Word Forms
- self-devoted adjective
- self-devotedly adverb
- self-devotedness noun
Etymology
Origin of self-devotion
First recorded in 1805–15
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 lesser-known “vulnerable” variety of self-devotion afflicts more reserved, fragile individuals who may resemble the self-effacing and thin-skinned characters portrayed by Woody Allen in his films.
From Scientific American • Feb. 5, 2013
"No man in the world was ever so sincere and modest in his self-devotion," wrote Marie in her secret notebook.
From Time Magazine Archive
Henceforward he had no choice but to sink to a baser contentment, or else rise to a higher self-devotion.
From The Gospel According to St. Mark by Chadwick, G. A.
In brief, in full, and finally, Lincoln's friendliness, through all its beautiful versatility, was a free and facile, a full and total, personal self-devotion.
From Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits; A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue Addressed to Theologians by Beardslee, Clark S.
He required from His disciples the completest self-renunciation, combined with enthusiastic self-devotion to the duty of making the world better.
From The Making of an Apostle by Campbell, R. J. (Reginald John)
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.
