self-help

[self-help, self-]

noun

1. the act of providing for or helping or the ability to provide for or help oneself without assistance from others.

2. Law.,  the act or right of remedying a wrong, without resorting to legal proceedings.

3. the acquiring of information or the solving of one's problems, especially those of a psychological nature, without the direct supervision of professionals or experts, as by independent reading or by joining or forming lay groups that are devoted to one's interests or goals.

adjective

1. of or relating to a book, article, home study course, or the like, offering an individual information or counseling intended to be personally beneficial or profitable.

   self-help books on overcoming shyness.

self-help

noun

1. the act or state of providing the means to help oneself without relying on the assistance of others

2. 1. the practice of solving one's problems by joining or forming a group designed to help those suffering from a particular problem

   2. ( as modifier )

      a self-help group

Other Word Forms

• self-helper noun
• self-helpful adjective
• self-helping adjective
• self-helpfulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-help¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

He listens to self-help tapes and goes out with coworkers for karaoke, where he belts out Atomic Kitten’s girl-group smash “Whole Again” without a trace of irony or self-consciousness.

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There were more self-help books, including How to Survive Christmas, and The Common Years: a brilliantly observed look at the time when she lived by and walked on Putney Common.

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Dozens of self-help books and therapy sessions later, I’m still on the prowl for something that makes sense of it all.

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Among those characters is a damaged male self-help guru played by Tom Cruise in a big-swing performance he has never quite topped before or since.

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But much of what they are spouting is self-help, internet based, anecdotal nonsense.

Read more on Salon