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

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

Meanwhile, Coleman was retreating deeper into his bedroom, cutting contact with his family and friends in self-imposed isolation accelerated by the pandemic.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

“Any self-imposed pause could lift at any moment, in secret and without warning,” the Maryland Attorney General’s Office wrote in response.

From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026

I enjoyed my life in the City of Brotherly Love, but I had read that Ecuador was affordable and thought that I could decamp there as a temporary base for my self-imposed sabbatical.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

I had been planning on choosing brazier, knowing that the quantity of heat would help offset my self-imposed handicap.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss