Meanings
- not comparableHaving achieved success by one's own efforts, with little to no support from family members and others.
My father was the quintessential self-made man.
2 more examples
There was I a dragoon, roving, unsettled, not self-made like him, but self-unmade—all my earlier advantages thrown away, all my little learning unlearnt, nothing picked up but what unfitted me for most things that I could think of.
1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter LV, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 531“These were people who were self-made, and self-made people made up their own words,” Mr. Sokolowski added.
2021 November 9, Max Harrison-Caldwell, quoting Peter Sokolowski, “Words Full of Sound and Fury”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: self-structured, self-formed · Antonyms: nepotistic, cronyish
- not comparableMade by oneself instead of bought or taken over.
Near-synonyms: homemade, homebrew, homespun, handmade; see also Thesaurus:custom-made
1 more example
Originally each school was bound only by self-made rules.
1905, Fielding Yost, Football for Player and SpectatorSynonyms: homemade, homebrew, homespun, handmade, custom-made, made-to-measure, made-to-order, tailor-made
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving achieved success by one's own efforts, with little to no support from family members and others.
adjectiveMade by oneself instead of bought or taken over.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving achieved success or recognition by your own efforts
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*swé?
- Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*selbaz
- Old Englishself
- Old Englishself-
- Middle Englishself-
- Englishself-
- Englishmade
- Englishself-made
Translations
Arabic عِصَامِيّ, عِصَامِيّ
- عِصَامِيّ (ʕiṣāmiyy)having achieved success by one's own efforts
- عِصَامِيّ (ʕiṣāmiyy)made by oneself
Dutch zelfgemaakt
- zelfgemaaktmade by oneself
Finnish itse uransa luonut, oman onnensa seppä
- itse uransa luonuthaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- oman onnensa seppähaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- omatekoinenmade by oneself
- itse tehtymade by oneself
German selbstgemacht
- selbstgemachtmade by oneself
Greek αυτοδημιούργητος
- αυτοδημιούργητος (aftodimioúrgitos)having achieved success by one's own efforts
Indonesian swausaha, usaha diri
- swausahahaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- usaha dirihaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- buatan sendirimade by oneself
- swabuatmade by oneself
- swayasamade by oneself
Italian venuto dal niente, fatto da sé
- venuto dal nientehaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- fatto da séhaving achieved success by one's own efforts
Polish zawdzięczający wszystko samemu sobie, zrobiony samodzielnie
- zawdzięczający wszystko samemu sobiehaving achieved success by one's own efforts
- zrobiony samodzielniemade by oneself
- własnej robotymade by oneself
Russian обя́занный всем самому́ себе́, самоде́льный
- обя́занный всем самому́ себе́ (objázannyj vsem samomú sebé)having achieved success by one's own efforts
- самоде́льный (samodélʹnyj)made by oneself
Spanish casero, hecho a mano
- caseromade by oneself
- hecho a manomade by oneself
- hecho en casamade by oneself
Ukrainian саморо́бний
- саморо́бний (samoróbnyj)made by oneself
Cite this entry
self-made. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-made
“self-made.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-made. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-made,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-made.
Source: self-made on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.