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self-reliance
noun
self-re·li·ance
ˌself-ri-ˈlī-ənts
: reliance on one's own efforts and abilities
Synonyms
Examples of self-reliance in a Sentence
some people don't achieve self-reliance until they're over 30 years old
Recent Examples on the Web
However, the move risks deepening North Korea's diplomatic and economic isolation, signaling a decisive shift toward militarized self-reliance over potential reconciliation with Seoul or engagement with the broader international community.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
And cowboys, working the grueling cattle drives, came to embody values linked to the frontier: self-reliance, strength and independence.
—Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024
Alpha Kappa Alpha, like Alpha Phi Alpha before it, was forged as an act of self-reliance: inspired by stories of sorority life on other college campuses, Ethel Hedgemon Lyle, a Howard student from St. Louis, recruited classmates to create a group of their own, in the spring of 1907.
—Jazmine Hughes, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
Unschooling offered an antidote to these concerns about formal schooling while aligning nicely with the lifestyle values of freedom, autonomy and self-reliance that drew many parents to worldschooling in the first place.
—Jennie Germann Molz, Scientific American, 21 Oct. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1668, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near self-reliance
Cite this Entry
“Self-reliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-reliance. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
self-reliance
noun
self-re·li·ance
ˌsel-fri-ˈlī-ənts
: trust in one's own efforts and abilities
self-reliant
adjective
-ənt
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