self-identify

[ self-ahy-den-ti-fahy, ‐i-den-ti-fahy ]

/ ˈsɛlf aɪˈdɛn tɪˌfaɪ, ‐ɪˈdɛn tɪˌfaɪ /

Save This Word!

verb (used without object)

identify (defs. 7, 8): to self-identify as gay; to self-identify with others in the same situation.

verb (used with object)

identify (defs. 4, 6): I've never self-identified myself with that radical mentality. She sometimes self-identifies herself with her patients.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of self-identify

First recorded in 1960–65; self + identify

OTHER WORDS FROM self-identify

self-i·den·ti·fi·ca·tion, noun

Words nearby self-identify

self-help, selfhood, self-hypnosis, self-hypnotized, self-identification, self-identify, self-identity, selfie, self-ignite, self-image, self-immolating

How to use self-identify in a sentence

We see detoxing as a path to transcendence, a symbol of modern urban virtue and self-transformation through abstinence.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We have thousands of users who identify themselves as transgendered and they are welcome members of the Grindr community.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He loves the fact that, like on Grindr, users can identify as transgender.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Stephanie Giorgio, a classical musician, credits The Class for helping her cope with anxiety, focus, fear, and self-doubt.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

For someone with anorexia, self-starvation makes them feel better.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Now this setting up of an orderly law-abiding self seems to me to imply that there are impulses which make for order.
Children's Ways|James Sully
At present, Louis was too self-absorbed by the struggles within him, to look deep into what was passing around him.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
But to wave this discourse of Heathens, how many self-contradicting principles are there held among Christians?
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
Jean grinned and dribbled self-consciously, and showed his two little teeth to the proudest father in the world.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke