an end in itself
noun phrase
: something that one does because one wants to and not because it will help achieve or accomplish something else
She started exercising for her health, but she enjoyed it so much that exercising became an end in itself.
For him, taking classes was an end in itself.
Examples of an end in itself in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When there are too many rules, process becomes an end in itself.
—
Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
Researchers found that participants who viewed religion as an end in itself experienced lower anxiety and reported better sleep quality and efficiency.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
In this sense, digital transformation is not an end in itself but a tool to make each hospital experience more human, precise and safe.
—Nuri Kino, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
Reels music is simply an end in itself, slop so sloppy it’s become its own sort of sonic font, an aesthetic guaranteed to rack up people raging and engaging in the comments.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 21 May 2025
Whatever lasting arguments his theory might have ignited seem to have given way to an understanding of an endowment as an end in itself, a stand-in for a university’s purpose, a rejection of the idea that underlying a belief in institutional eternity is an alienating self-regard.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
Like in every domain, AI is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
For Ridgely Evers, developing new technology has never been an end in itself.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2011
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Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
Researchers found that participants who viewed religion as an end in itself experienced lower anxiety and reported better sleep quality and efficiency.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
In this sense, digital transformation is not an end in itself but a tool to make each hospital experience more human, precise and safe.
—Nuri Kino, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
Reels music is simply an end in itself, slop so sloppy it’s become its own sort of sonic font, an aesthetic guaranteed to rack up people raging and engaging in the comments.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 21 May 2025
Whatever lasting arguments his theory might have ignited seem to have given way to an understanding of an endowment as an end in itself, a stand-in for a university’s purpose, a rejection of the idea that underlying a belief in institutional eternity is an alienating self-regard.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
Like in every domain, AI is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
For Ridgely Evers, developing new technology has never been an end in itself.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2011
Cite this Entry
“An end in itself.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/an%20end%20in%20itself. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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