autodidact

noun au·to·di·dact \ ˌȯ-tō-ˈdī-ˌdakt , -dī-ˈ , -də-ˈ \

Definition of autodidact

:a self-taught person

was an autodidact who read voraciously

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autodidactic

play \-dī-ˈdak-tik, -də-\ adjective

Recent Examples of autodidact from the Web

For all his life Mr. Cohran was a ravenous autodidact, studying world history, astrology, health science and musicology and passing that knowledge on to students.

— giovanni russonello, New York Times, "Kelan Philip Cohran, a Musician Who Invigorated Chicago With Education and Activism, Dies at 90," 4 July 2017
Graham Hancock is an audacious autodidact who believes that long before ancient Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Egypt there existed an even more glorious civilization.

— michael shermer, Scientific American, "No, There Wasn't an Advanced Civilization 12,000 Years Ago," 22 May 2017
Upon being elected mayor in 2006, Bogdán, who completed only three years of formal schooling but is a restless autodidact, set about helping villagers understand the power of that dictum.

— tibor krausz, The Christian Science Monitor, "He’s led a transformation among Roma villagers: crime down, productivity up," 18 May 2017
A gorgeous, smart, ambitious, hard-working, steely autodidact and businesswoman whose product was herself, Valtesse would be totally at home in our self-branding society.

— nancy kline, New York Times, "Paris," 3 Feb. 2017
The painter was identified as Van Dyck, but Snare, with an art lover’s instincts and an autodidact’s ravenous literacy, was certain it was painted by Diego Velázquez.

— jennifer senior, New York Times, "The Vanishing Velázquez," 10 Apr. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'autodidact.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.