self-proclaimed

adjective

Announced by oneself, usually without recognition by others.

“He was self-proclaimed king of the mountain. Since it was a mountain of garbage, nobody else wanted the title anyway.”

Similar
self-styledself-appointedself-professedself-ordainedsoi-disantwannabetryharddeclared
OriginEnglish proclaimed ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
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Meanings

adjectiveself-proclaimed (not comparable)
  1. not comparableAnnounced by oneself, usually without recognition by others.

    He was self-proclaimed king of the mountain. Since it was a mountain of garbage, nobody else wanted the title anyway.

    2 more examples

    The small town of Pitlochry is the self-proclaimed gateway to the Scottish Highlands and the Cairngorms National Park.

    2020 April 8, Anthony Lambert, “National parks: rail can keep the cars away”, in Rail, page 52, photo caption

    “The end of the traffic light coalition is a liberation for our country. The end of the self-proclaimed ‘progressive coalition’ that took Germany to the brink of economic ruin was more than overdue,” Weidel wrote on X.

    2024 November 7, Sophie Tanno, Sebastian Shukla and Olesya Dmitracova, “Germany’s normally stable government has collapsed. Here’s why”, in CNN

    Synonyms: self-styled, self-appointed, self-professed, self-ordained, soi-disant, wannabe, tryhard

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveAnnounced by oneself, usually without recognition by others.

Similar
self-styledself-appointedself-professedself-ordainedsoi-disantwannabetryhard

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveproclaimed to be or described as such by oneself, without endorsement by others

Similar
declared
Also see
self-appointedself-styled

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

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. Englishproclaimed
  9. Englishself-proclaimed

From self- + proclaimed.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian самозван
  • самозван (samozvan)announced by oneself
Chinese Mandarin 自稱的 /自称的
  • 自稱的 /自称的 (zìchēng de)announced by oneself
Czech samozvaný
  • samozvanýannounced by oneself
Finnish itsensä joksikin julistanut
  • itsensä joksikin julistanutannounced by oneself
French autoproclamé
  • autoproclaméannounced by oneself
German selbsternannt
  • selbsternanntannounced by oneself
Hindi स्वघोषित
  • स्वघोषित (svaghoṣit)announced by oneself
Italian autoproclamato
  • autoproclamatoannounced by oneself
Japanese 自称の
  • 自称の (jishō no)announced by oneself
Polish samozwańczy
  • samozwańczyannounced by oneself
Portuguese autoproclamado
  • autoproclamadoannounced by oneself
Romanian autoproclamat
  • autoproclamatannounced by oneself
Russian самопровозглашённый, самозва́ный
  • самопровозглашённый (samoprovozglašónnyj)announced by oneself
  • самозва́ный (samozványj)announced by oneself
Spanish autoproclamado, autonombrado
  • autoproclamadoannounced by oneself
  • autonombradoannounced by oneself
  • autodeclaradoannounced by oneself
Swedish självutnämnd
  • självutnämndannounced by oneself
Ukrainian самопроголо́шений
  • самопроголо́шений (samoproholóšenyj)announced by oneself
Cite this entry
APA

self-proclaimed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-proclaimed

MLA

“self-proclaimed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-proclaimed. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-proclaimed,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-proclaimed.

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