autodidact

noun

au·​to·​di·​dact ˌȯ-tō-ˈdī-ˌdakt  -dī-ˈdakt 

-də-ˈdakt

: a self-taught person

was an autodidact who read voraciously

autodidactic

ˌȯ-tō-dī-ˈdak-tik 

-də-

adjective

Examples of autodidact in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His father was a stevedore and his mother an autodidact who aspired to something better than the prefab house where her family lived. —Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

Tykwer was one of a new generation of film geek obsessives, autodidacts who gorged themselves on midnight screenings, VHS tapes and repertory theaters, whose movies would mash up the tropes and obsessions of cinema history with the fresh aesthetics of video games and music videos. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2025

This is a fine way for an autodidact to acquire a fashion education. —Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024

Our archives are such a roadmap for actually being an autodidact and doing that. —Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin & Greek; New Latin autodidactus "self-taught," borrowed from Greek autodídaktos, from auto- auto- + didaktós "taught, learned" — more at didactic

First Known Use

1784, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for autodidact

• overreact
• abstract
• attacked
• attract
• contact
• contract
• detract
• distract
• enact
• exact
• extract
• hijacked