self-control
noun
self-con·trol
ˌself-kən-ˈtrōl 
: restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires
Examples of self-control in a Sentence
toddlers have very little self-control
she could be passionate and intense, but generally exercised steely self-control in the company of strangers
Recent Examples on the Web
For all the posturing about discipline, spirituality, and self-control, rappers are just as entangled in the rumor economy as their listeners.
—
Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
People with positive parenting feelings exhibited more connectivity changes in parts of the brain that are important for self-control (the middle frontal gyrus) and empathy (the supramarginal gyrus).
—Anthony Vaccaro, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2025
Safdie perceptively locates the protagonist’s troubling inner contradictions—the atavistic fury that drives him to compete and the intense self-control that competition demands—but dramatizes such outer crises as opioid addiction and conflict with his girlfriend (Emily Blunt) only schematically.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025
Applied here, an EED theory would try to show both a genuine loss of self-control and a reasonable explanation for that loss.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-control
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Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
People with positive parenting feelings exhibited more connectivity changes in parts of the brain that are important for self-control (the middle frontal gyrus) and empathy (the supramarginal gyrus).
—Anthony Vaccaro, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2025
Safdie perceptively locates the protagonist’s troubling inner contradictions—the atavistic fury that drives him to compete and the intense self-control that competition demands—but dramatizes such outer crises as opioid addiction and conflict with his girlfriend (Emily Blunt) only schematically.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025
Applied here, an EED theory would try to show both a genuine loss of self-control and a reasonable explanation for that loss.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-control
Cite this Entry
“Self-control.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-control. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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