self-finance

verb

self-fi·​nance ˌself-fə-ˈnan(t)s 

-ˈfī-ˌnan(t)s, 

-fī-ˈnan(t)s

self-financed; self-financing; self-finances

1

transitive : to raise or provide funds or capital for (something) oneself : to finance (something) oneself

Sherzan self-financed much of his primary campaign, putting in more than $640,000 of his own money.

—Kathie Obradovich

2

intransitive : to furnish or provide oneself with necessary funds or capital

They lack the resources to self-finance until they have built a big enough operation.

—Patrick Kennedy

Examples of self-finance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The team opted to self-finance the initial development, a process that took approximately two and a half years from concept to consumer launch. —Esha Chhabra, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Often, directors’ self-transformations involve changes in modes of production: Scorsese broke away from the studios and found independent financing; Coppola self-financed. —Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2026

Billionaire businessman and activist Tom Steyer, who once self-financed an unsuccessful White House campaign and spent his own money advocating for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, has launched his bid for California governor as a Democrat. —Bill Barrow, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2025

Ford is self-financing the film and plans to find a buyer after production is complete, according to Deadline, which broke the news of the project. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for self-finance

• circumstance
• exceedance
• happenstance
• refinance
• advance
• askance
• enhance
• expanse
• finance
• freelance
• mischance
• perchance