self-sustaining
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-sustaining
First recorded in 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Michael” might be a self-evident, self-sustaining, self-indulgent piece of PR.
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026
Workers currently have less bargaining power to demand higher wages, reducing the risk that an energy-driven inflation spike becomes self-sustaining.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 2026
However, once Hernán Cortés triumphed, the conquistadors went from waging war — vanquishing the Aztecs — to the project of subjugating Indigenous holdouts and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
These experts then furthered the complexity of the systems under their purview, creating a self-sustaining cycle in which ever more expertise was required to deal with ever more complexity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
The ultimate goal of any reintroduction program is to create a self-sustaining population in the wild—a species that can survive and breed completely on its own, with no human intervention.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
