Meanings
- uncountableThe capacity to rely on one's own capabilities, and to manage one's own affairs; independence.
Loss of self-reliance leads to loss of self-confidence.
2 more examples
The present sorrow always exceeds its predecessors—not so the present joy; comparison exaggerates the one, while it diminishes the other; and people talk of their youth as if it had not been a period of feverish sensitiveness, awkward embarrassments, many heart-burnings, and an utter want of that self-reliance which alone can ensure content.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 207A successful response uses social forces such as peer pressure and altruism to help people adapt to changing circumstances. It delivers messages and support that promote self-reliance rather than encourage people to fall back on stressed state support.
2020 April 9, Ian Boyd, “We practised for a pandemic, but didn’t brace”, in Nature, volume 580, number 7802, page 9Synonyms: self-sufficiency
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe capacity to rely on one's own capabilities, and to manage one's own affairs; independence.
More synonyms by meaning
nounpersonal independence
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-
- Englishreliance
- Englishself-reliance
Translations
Catalan autosuficiència
- autosuficiènciaindependence
Chinese Mandarin 自依賴 /自依赖
- 自依賴 /自依赖 (zìyīlài)independence
Czech samostatnost
- samostatnostindependence
Danish selvstændighed
- selvstændighedindependence
Dutch zelfredzaamheid, zelfvoorzienendheid
- zelfredzaamheidindependence
- zelfvoorzienendheidindependence
Finnish omavaraisuus
- omavaraisuusindependence
French autonomie, autosuffisance
- autonomieindependence
- autosuffisanceindependence
German Selbständigkeit, Selbstständigkeit
- Selbständigkeitindependence
- Selbstständigkeitindependence
Greek αυτοδυναμία
- αυτοδυναμία (aftodynamía)independence
Hindi आत्मनिर्भरता, स्वावलंब
- आत्मनिर्भरता (ātmanirbhartā)independence
- स्वावलंब (svāvlamb)independence
Hungarian önállóság
- önállóságindependence
Japanese 自立
- 自立 (jiritsu)independence
Polish niezależność, samodzielność
- niezależnośćindependence
- samodzielnośćindependence
Portuguese autossuficiência
- autossuficiênciaindependence
Russian уве́ренность в свои́х си́лах, самодоста́точность
- уве́ренность в свои́х си́лах (uvérennostʹ v svoíx sílax)independence
- самодоста́точность (samodostátočnostʹ)independence
- самостоя́тельность (samostojátelʹnostʹ)independence
- автоно́мность (avtonómnostʹ)independence
Slovak samostatnosť
- samostatnosťindependence
Spanish independencia, autosuficiencia
- independenciaindependence
- autosuficienciaindependence
- autodependenciaindependence
Swedish självförtroende, självtillit
- självförtroendeindependence
- självtillitindependence
Tamil தற்சார்பு
- தற்சார்பு (taṟcārpu)independence
Cite this entry
self-reliance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-reliance
“self-reliance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-reliance. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-reliance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-reliance.
Source: self-reliance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.