self-educated

American  

[self-ej-oo-key-tid, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈɛdʒ ʊˌkeɪ tɪd, ˈsɛlf- /

adjective

1. educated by one's own efforts, especially without formal instruction.

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self-educated British  

adjective

1. educated through one's own efforts without formal instruction

2. educated at one's own expense, without financial aid

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Other Word Forms

• self-educating adjective
• self-education noun

Etymology

Origin of self-educated

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Galton was largely self-educated, an odd man who studied fingerprints and claimed to have proved through testing that praying doesn’t help matters.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

His novel “Caleb Williams” introduces an embattled young hero, born poor and largely self-educated, who perceives justice in exalted terms.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

John Spargo, a self-educated British stonemason who emigrated to New York in 1901, became an unlikely political theorist of the movement.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2025

Humphries excelled at art and English, and largely ignored the rest of the school curriculum, later writing in Who's Who? that he was "self-educated" and attended Melbourne Grammar School.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2023

The only child of immigrant parents, orphaned at the age of twelve, self-educated, hard-working Samuel Westing saved his laborer's wages and bought a small paper mill.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin