self-made

[self-meyd]

See more synonyms for self-made on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having succeeded in life unaided: He is a self-made man.
made by oneself.

Origin of self-made

First recorded in 1605–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for self-made

Contemporary Examples

In the early years, the big powers were often rough, self-made men such as Jack Warner or Louis B. Mayer.
Trustafarians Want to Tell You How to Live
Joel Kotkin
October 31, 2014
He was a self-made man, and a self-destroyed man—so he wrote his own punch line.
Harry Shearer on Being Nixon, ‘The Simpsons Movie’ Sequel, and Why Obama Should Return His Nobel
Marlow Stern
October 21, 2014
We needed him to be wary, absorbed, and a little bit gruff, and he gamely complied, thereby furthering his own self-made legend.
Michael Musto: Lou Reed Made Me A Believer—In Transvestism, Prostitution, and Lou Reed
Michael Musto
October 28, 2013
My father was a self-made man as we use the term, but he was more than that – much more.
My Eulogy for My Father, Murray Frum
David Frum
May 31, 2013
But Bennett, a religious IDF commander and self-made multimillionaire, failed us miserably on two leadership issues.
Voting For Yair Lapid, Israel’s Maimonides
Rabbi Daniel Landes
February 4, 2013

Historical Examples

As a general rule, self-made men are the only well made men.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin
The vast majority of them are self-made men who started at the bottom of the ladder.
War Taxation
Otto H. Kahn
He was a self-made man and was conscious that he had done a good job.
Keziah Coffin
Joseph C. Lincoln
He was the self-made man who had shed the traces of self-making.
The Letter of the Contract
Basil King
The mediævals not only had self-government, but their self-government was self-made.
A Short History of England
G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for self-made

self-made

adjective

having achieved wealth, status, etc, by one's own efforts
made by oneself

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for self-made

adj.

1610s, "made by oneself," from self- + made. Self-made man first recorded 1832, American English; the sense is "having attained material success in life without extraneous advantages."

self-made

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}self-made

Examples from the Web for self-made

Contemporary Examples

In the early years, the big powers were often rough, self-made men such as Jack Warner or Louis B. Mayer.

He was a self-made man, and a self-destroyed man—so he wrote his own punch line.

We needed him to be wary, absorbed, and a little bit gruff, and he gamely complied, thereby furthering his own self-made legend.

My father was a self-made man as we use the term, but he was more than that – much more.

But Bennett, a religious IDF commander and self-made multimillionaire, failed us miserably on two leadership issues.

Historical Examples

As a general rule, self-made men are the only well made men.

The vast majority of them are self-made men who started at the bottom of the ladder.

He was a self-made man and was conscious that he had done a good job.

He was the self-made man who had shed the traces of self-making.

The mediævals not only had self-government, but their self-government was self-made.

self-made

Word Origin and History for self-made

adj.

Origin of self-made