self-governed
Americanadjective
-
governed by itself or having self-government, as a state or community; independent.
- Synonyms:
- autonomous
- Antonyms:
- dependent
-
self-regulating; self-determining.
-
exercising self-restraint or self-control.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-governed
First recorded in 1700–10
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.
Returning from his Beijing summit with the Chinese leader, the president said that “nothing’s changed” in the U.S. policy toward the democratic, self-governed island.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
He also told Trump that Washington should be "prudent" when supplying weapons to the self-governed island which China has long claimed.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
He was also able to conduct and tour with the Vienna Philharmonic, an elite, self-governed contingent of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.
From New York Times • Feb. 9, 2024
The self-governed enclave had 10,000 fighters at its disposal according to Azerbaijan, whose own army - estimated at over 120,000-strong by Western experts - dwarfed it.
From Reuters • Sep. 29, 2023
A democratic form of government is right or it is not right—it is either right that the people should be self-governed or that they should not.
From The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V by Harper, Ida Husted
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.
