self-fulfilling
Americanadjective
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characterized by or bringing about self-fulfillment.
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happening or brought about as a result of being foretold, expected, or talked about.
a self-fulfilling prophecy.
adjective
Usage
What does self-fulfilling prophecy mean? A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to be true due to the behavior (including the act of predicting it) of the believer. Self-fulling, here, means “brought about as a result of being foretold or talked about,” while prophecy refers to the prediction.
Etymology
Origin of self-fulfilling
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 need to scrutinise these companies much more or we are in danger of self-fulfilling prophecies," she says.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The U.S. team’s history of underachievement has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
While the first autism studies in the 1940s did include a small cohort of girls, the condition appeared to be more prevalent in boys and the gender divide became a "self-fulfilling prophecy".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Economists and Federal Reserve officials watch long-run inflation expectation measures to ensure price pressures don’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The names Xhosa families give their children always have a meaning, and that meaning has a way of becoming self-fulfilling.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
