self-imposed

American  

[self-im-pohzd, self-] / ˈsɛlf ɪmˈpoʊzd, ˌsɛlf- /

adjective

1. imposed on one by oneself.

   a self-imposed task.

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self-imposed British  

adjective

1. (of a task, role, or circumstance) having been imposed on oneself by oneself

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Etymology

Origin of self-imposed

First recorded in 1775–85

Explanation

Anything that's self-imposed has been decided by you, not enforced by someone else. If you set a self-imposed bedtime of 11:00, it's completely voluntary. Your school's starting time is decided by the school itself, but if you make sure to get there a half hour before your first class, that's self-imposed. And if your mom instructs you to apologize to a friend whose feelings you hurt, that's not self-imposed, because she's telling you to do it. When someone is described as being in "self-imposed exile," that means they've left the country of their own free will, rather than being made to leave.

Example Sentences

Jefferies analyst Brent Thill thinks Microsoft has “no self-imposed ceiling” to its capital spending relative to free cash flow.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

Tuchel instead picked Arsenal's Ben White, who has not been a regular at club level and had been in self-imposed England exile since the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026

It’s frugality, yes, but it’s also a tiny self-imposed puzzle, one I’ve grown strangely fond of.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

After going into self-imposed exile, he re-emerged last year in Goma, the key eastern city that had come under the control of Rwandan-based M23 fighters as they mounted a lightning offensive.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

Her daughter was always off and away in her mind, grappling with some unspoken, self-imposed problem, as though the weary, self-evident world could be reinvented by a child.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan