self-enforcing

American  

[self-en-fawr-sing, -fohr-] / ˈsɛlf ɛnˈfɔr sɪŋ, -ˈfoʊr- /

adjective

1. of or having the capability of enforcement within oneself or itself; self-regulating.

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Other Word Forms

• self-enforcement
  noun

Etymology

Origin of self-enforcing

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Once society selects a date, however, that date becomes self-enforcing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

As Michelle Lapointe, legal director at American Immigration Council, told Slate, administrative subpoenas are not self-enforcing.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2026

It would reflect the reality that norms are not self-enforcing.

From Salon • Oct. 10, 2020

Our Constitution is not self-enforcing, and progress is not necessarily linear or permanent.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2019

The existing poor-law in Glencalvie is a self-enforcing law, that rises direct out of the unsophisticated sympathies of the Highland heart, and costs the proprietary nothing.

From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John