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self-understanding

British

noun

the ability to understand one's own actions

"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

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.

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s “The Mattering Instinct” is an attempt to place human self-understanding on a new footing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

The story of identity formation is deeply personal, based on the sedimentation of experience, self-understanding, and the ascriptions of others.

From Slate • Jul. 5, 2023

Unfortunately, the last section of “The Age of Guilt,” titled “Embrace the Ideals,” takes a very odd turn away from the Freudian effort at increased freedom through deeper, if incomplete, self-understanding.

From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2023

That Harry Potter’s journey toward self-understanding echoes the experience of so many trans individuals may explain the widespread sentiment that Rowling has now betrayed her readers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2023

Sunrise, and flowing stream, and tossing seas are valuable as associates of the soul and helping it to self-understanding.

From A Hero and Some Other Folks by Quayle, William A. (William Alfred)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023