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Synonyms

self-reliance

American  
[self-ri-lahy-uhns, self-] / ˈsɛlf rɪˈlaɪ əns, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

  1. reliance on oneself or one's own powers, resources, etc.

self-reliance British  

noun

  1. reliance on one's own abilities, decisions, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
“Self-Reliance” Cultural  

  1. (1841) An essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that advises the reader to “Trust thyself” and argues that “whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” It is the source of several well-known epigrams, such as “To be great is to be misunderstood” and “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

Other Word Forms

  • self-reliant adjective
  • self-reliantly adverb

Etymology

Origin of self-reliance

First recorded in 1825–35

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.

The momentum appears to be continuing into 2026, with China’s advances in AI, push for technological self-reliance and resilience in global trade buoying investor confidence.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Our ancestors even wore it into battle. It represents Indigenous technology and self-reliance."

From Barron's

By focusing on magnets instead, one of the most widely used rare-earth products, India aims to achieve self-reliance more quickly.

From BBC

A homegrown tool like that was critical to ensuring Korea’s technological self-reliance in a world already dominated by U.S. and Chinese artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI, tech self-reliance, improving earnings, Beijing’s policy support and more active Hong Kong listing and fundraising pipelines that keep liquidity and attention high have all boosted domestic stocks, she added.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.