self-improvement

[ self-im-proov-muhnt, self- ]

noun

1. improvement of one's mind, character, etc., through one's own efforts.

self-improvement

noun

1. the improvement of one's status, position, education, etc, by one's own efforts

Other Words From

• self-im·prova·ble adjective
• self-im·prover noun
• self-im·proving adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-improvement¹

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

Another said just the act of spending money on self-improvement made him determined to break out of his shell.

From The Daily Beast

Self improvement goals also lend themselves to behaviors too.

From The Daily Beast

Education is a series of hoops to jump through, not a process of self-improvement or self-discovery.

From The Daily Beast

When first genomics started, we figured the result would be self-improvement—literally.

From The Daily Beast

Yet it also expresses hope—the thing with feathers that allows us to believe self-improvement is possible.

From The Daily Beast

Culture, in a broad sense, is the aid rendered to each individual creation in its work of self-improvement.

From Project Gutenberg

Quin's desire for self-improvement soon became an obsession.

From Project Gutenberg

What mistake more fatal to everything like self-improvement, culture, knowledge, happiness?

From Project Gutenberg

And to carry out their projects of organization, conversion and self-improvement, they subscribe large funds to a common treasury.

From Project Gutenberg

A man works in a sweatshop, and has only a little time for self-improvement, and will I tell him what books he ought to read?

From Project Gutenberg