self-taught
Americanadjective
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having become as specified by teaching oneself, without the aid of formal education.
She’s a self-taught photographer who sells her work online.
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learned by oneself.
Particularly impressive is his self-taught mastery of the guitar.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-taught
First recorded in 1715–25
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.
McCartney's father Jim infused the house with music, bashing out self-taught tunes on an old piano.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
Stables is entirely self-taught as an archaeologist and began excavating the site out of a personal fascination with the village's prehistoric past.
From Science Daily • May 20, 2026
After months of delays, the group last fall selected Allen, a little-known, self-taught sculptor born in Heber City, Utah, in 1970 who now lives in Tepoztlán, Mexico.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
The Gitters began regular travels on back roads in the Southeast in their Toyota pickup, searching for works by other self-taught artists.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Though he was entirely self-taught, never learned Latin, and had scant understanding of Linnaean classifications, he was a prize plant collector, with an uncanny knack for finding and recognizing unknown species.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
