autobiography

noun

au·​to·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy ˌȯ-tə-bī-ˈä-grə-fē How to pronounce autobiography (audio)
-bē-
plural autobiographies
: the biography of a person narrated by that person : a usually written account of a person's life in their own words
celebrity autobiographies
The fall and rise of Chrysler Corporation is an oft-told tale—three books on the subject have appeared already, including Lee Iacocca's bestselling autobiography.Jerry Flint
Frederick Douglass's autobiographies are invaluable both for what they reveal about antebellum slavery and for what they reveal about a remarkable American.Peter Kolchin
This last book … is part autobiography and part fiction, though it is listed as fiction.Mims Cushing
Some 400 crowded both floors of the bookstore and lined up around the block as Iggy [Pop] signed the entire stock of 200 copies of his autobiography "I Need More."Publishers Weekly
In recent years, the biggest-selling baseball books have been autobiographies of colorful personalities, written with the aid of collaborators.Ray Walters
The letters are arranged chronologically and episodically to form an autobiography.William S. McFeely

Examples of autobiography in a Sentence

I read her autobiography last year.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In her autobiography, Gibson wrote about biding her time rather than choosing to agitate. Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025 Like her other books comprising private connections and recollections, Romano preferred to call Le parole a novel rather than a memoir or autobiography, seeing the distinction between fact and fiction as an irrelevant one for literature. Brian Robert Moore september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025 The title, which recounted McCurdy’s career as a child actress and her difficult relationship with her abusive mother who died in 2013, won the 2023 American Library Association Alex Award and the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award in the memoir and autobiography category. Jennifer Maas, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025 This autobiography runs through his life and career from writing code for magazines to co-founding ID Software and creating games like Doom and Quake. Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for autobiography

Word History

Etymology

auto- + biography, perhaps after German Autobiographie

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of autobiography was in 1797

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Cite this Entry

“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

autobiography

noun
au·​to·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy ˌȯt-ə-bī-ˈäg-rə-fē How to pronounce autobiography (audio)
-bē-
: a biography written by the person it is about
autobiographer noun
autobiographical adjective
also autobiographic
autobiographically adverb
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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