self-expression

noun

The means by which one's personal characteristics are displayed; showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions/changes.

Meanings

nounself-expression (countable and uncountable, plural self-expressions)

plural self-expressions

  1. countableuncountableThe means by which one's personal characteristics are displayed; showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions/changes.
    1 more example

    Medical culture constrains stimming through strict clinical designations and pathologizing definitions, referring to it as stereotypies or "self-stimulatory behaviours." Autistic people, however, often define stimming more broadly as repetitive sensory practices used to regulate emotional states, to cope with external sensory stimuli, or for purposes of self-expression.

    2021, Erin Felepchuk, “Stimming, Improvisation, and COVID-19: (Re)negotiating Autistic Sensory Regulation During a Pandemic”, in Disability Studies Quarterly, volume 41, number 3, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2022

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishexpression
  9. Englishself-expression

From self- + expression.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 自我表達 /自我表达
  • 自我表達 /自我表达 (zìwǒ biǎodá)showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Greek αυτοέκφραση
  • αυτοέκφραση (aftoékfrasi)showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Hungarian önkifejezés
  • önkifejezésshowing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Portuguese autoexpressão
  • autoexpressãoshowing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Russian самовыраже́ние
  • самовыраже́ние (samovyražénije)showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Turkish öz ifade
  • öz ifadeshowing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Ukrainian самови́раження
  • самови́раження (samovýražennja)showing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Vietnamese tự bạch
  • tự bạchshowing one's internal beliefs or character by means of external actions
Cite this entry
APA

self-expression. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-expression

MLA

“self-expression.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-expression. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-expression,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-expression.

Source: self-expression on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.