as in independence
the ability to care for one's self
some people don't achieve self-reliance until they're over 30 years old
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-reliance
Living in such isolation has taught Wendy about self-reliance, but also about the unique warmth of the rural Mexican community.
—
Ashley Vega, People.com, 22 May 2025
Research reveals how traditional masculine norms—like emotional stoicism, self-reliance and achievement orientation—directly conflict with practices that enhance leadership effectiveness.
—Anna Barnhill, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
The Context Cats are touted by some as excellent pets due to their self-reliance, able to eat, hunt and use the bathroom on their own.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
Putin has adopted autarkic self-reliance and other ideas that appear to draw on North Korea’s Juche ideology—the doctrine formulated by Kim Jong Il in 1982 that seeks to foreground national economic and military self-reliance.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-reliance
Ashley Vega, People.com, 22 May 2025
Research reveals how traditional masculine norms—like emotional stoicism, self-reliance and achievement orientation—directly conflict with practices that enhance leadership effectiveness.
—Anna Barnhill, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
The Context Cats are touted by some as excellent pets due to their self-reliance, able to eat, hunt and use the bathroom on their own.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
Putin has adopted autarkic self-reliance and other ideas that appear to draw on North Korea’s Juche ideology—the doctrine formulated by Kim Jong Il in 1982 that seeks to foreground national economic and military self-reliance.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-reliance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-reliance
Noun
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Mossad leadership has in past decades made direct contact with Iraqi Kurdish officials, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first and potentially only world leader to support the KRG's independence bid in 2017, prompting further regional backlash.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
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The Athletic maintains full editorial independence.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Noun
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Stop micromanaging teams to death—a little autonomy helps.—
Jon Michail,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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Read More: What the History of Saint Augustine Can Teach us About Pope Leo XIV Despite setting limits on the autonomy of the American Church, the social teachings of Leo XIII had enormous influence on Catholicism in the U.S., especially after the horrors of World War I.—
Time,
Time,
29 May 2025
Noun
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Urban farming: Teach your community about food production and self-sufficiency through an urban farm.—
Chelsea Tobin,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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China is countering not with tit-for-tat tariffs but with export bans on critical minerals, open-source AI workarounds, and a furious push for tech self-sufficiency.—
Quartz Staff,
Quartz,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-reliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-reliance. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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