self-possessed
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- self-possessedly adverb
- self-possession noun
- unself-possessed adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-possessed
First recorded in 1760–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And two Americans: Kenyon, a wry, observant, skeptical humanist sculptor, perhaps a stand-in for Hawthorne himself; and Hilda, a New England Puritan painter—self-possessed, pious, unswervingly loyal, pure as a flight of doves.
An even more welcome addition to our already bulging shelves is the belated arrival of a largely complete studio discography of Britain’s greatest conductor, and certainly its most self-possessed: the musical grandee Sir Thomas Beecham.
The usually self-possessed Edward Ashton was muttering and half mad after his failed tour of Switzerland.
From Literature
It’s impossible to know if Smith was really this self-possessed and ruminative as a child or if nostalgia has altered her perspective.
From Los Angeles Times
He unabashedly leans into that vibe here, even while wrangling his pair of self-possessed cats.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
