Meanings
plural self-fulfilling prophecies
- human sciencesA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true.
Operator Abellio ScotRail doubled the Mon-Sat service from one train in each direction to two from May 2019 - it being something of a self-fulfilling prophecy that if you lay on trains, people might use them.
2022 January 26, Stephen Roberts, “Top of the stops: our least used stations”, in RAIL, number 949, page 561 more example
Whether or not we believe in astrology is irrelevant; the question is, did the Magdalenians? If so, then in a self-fulfilling prophecy they may have been organizing their lives according to a religious belief system, and not simply an economic or ecological one.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 130
Origin
Coined by sociologist Robert K. Merton.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 自證預言 /自证预言
- 自證預言 /自证预言 (zìzhèng yùyán)A prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Finnish itseään toteuttava ennuste, itsensä toteuttava ennuste
- itseään toteuttava ennusteA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
- itsensä toteuttava ennusteA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
French prophétie autoréalisatrice
- prophétie autoréalisatriceA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
German selbsterfüllende Prophezeiung
- selbsterfüllende ProphezeiungA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Hungarian önbeteljesítő jóslat
- önbeteljesítő jóslatA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Icelandic virk spá
- virk spáA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Korean 자기 충족적 예언
- 자기 충족적 예언 (jagi chungjokjeok yeeon)A prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Polish samospełniająca się przepowiednia
- samospełniająca się przepowiedniaA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Spanish profecía autocumplida
- profecía autocumplidaA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Swedish självuppfyllande profetia
- självuppfyllande profetiaA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Vietnamese lời tiên tri tự hoàn thành
- lời tiên tri tự hoàn thànhA prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true
Cite this entry
self-fulfilling prophecy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-fulfilling%20prophecy
“self-fulfilling prophecy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-fulfilling%20prophecy. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-fulfilling prophecy,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-fulfilling%20prophecy.
Source: self-fulfilling prophecy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.