self-enforcing
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-enforcing
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
"We could be entering a self-enforcing feedback loop: the weaker the sea ice becomes, the more cyclone clusters can reduce its extent, which in turn weakens the sea ice," says Lars Aue.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
"A ban is more self-enforcing because you have involved the private sector and it becomes commercially unviable for them to deal in settlement goods," Stober says.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Supporters of so-called self-enforcing roads say narrowing lanes can lead to a considerable decline in crashes as drivers reduce their speed and move more cautiously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Once society selects a date, however, that date becomes self-enforcing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
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 John Davidson
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.
