self-sufficient
[self-suh-fish-uh nt, self-]
- able to supply one's own or its own needs without external assistance: The nation grows enough grain to be self-sufficient.
- having extreme confidence in one's own resources, powers, etc.: He was self-sufficient, and always reminded you of it.
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Also self-suf·fic·ing [self-suh-fahy-sing] /ˌsɛlf səˈfaɪ sɪŋ/.
Origin of self-sufficient
First recorded in 1580–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
efficient, competent, confident, self-supporting, self-sustaining, arrogant, closed, conceited, egotistic, haughty, independent, individual, self-confident, smug, unit, self-dependentExamples from the Web for self-sufficient
Contemporary Examples
Following troop drawdown, our goal is to create a self-sufficient Afghanistan, and one that views women as a vital contributors.
And Counihan said the system was designed to be as simple and self-sufficient as possible.
Sheriff Wheeler described the compound as a self-sufficient community with its own food supply.
We were driven, self-sufficient, results-oriented, and professionally demanding.
When you take any beginning industry, you do want to subsidize it until it's self-sufficient.
Historical Examples
Even his ways of sitting and standing provoke me, they are so self-sufficient.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
He was a corpulent, florid man, purse-proud, and self-sufficient.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
They were so free, so untrammelled and self-sufficient; yes, and so barbarous, too.
Hidden WaterDane Coolidge
A structure as huge and complex as this had to be self-sufficient.
The Status CivilizationRobert Sheckley
He looked pretty much like a self-sufficient, self-contained adult.
Ten From InfinityPaul W. Fairman
self-sufficient
self-sufficing
- able to provide for or support oneself without the help of others
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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-sufficient
adj.
"able to supply one's own needs," 1580s, from self- + sufficient. Related: Self-sufficiently.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper