self-descriptor

noun

self-de·​scrip·​tor ˌself-di-ˈskrip-tər 

plural self-descriptors

: a word or phrase used to describe oneself

As a teenager, she'd hated that word—"fat." … But when she and the other curvy models began using it as a self-descriptor, it no longer felt as offensive.

—Amy Kaufman

Unclassifiable exhibitions are all the rage, and "multimedia artist" is the most frequently claimed self-descriptor in the art world.

—Ted Loos

"Hey, how're you doing?" "I'm tired, but good." Tired. My go-to self-descriptor.

—Phoebe Quinton

In addition to the usual geographic/age-related questions, organizers asked about gender identity, and included a checkbox for every term they had ever heard used as a self-descriptor by members of this community.

—Reid Vanderburgh

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above