self-reinforcing
adjective
self-re·in·forc·ing
ˌself-ˌrē-ən-ˈfȯr-siŋ
: tending or serving to strengthen itself : reinforcing itself
According to this thinking, a self-reinforcing feedback loop—bigger brains, better tools, more food—drove forward the process of human evolution.—
Michael Rothschild
Michael RothschildJust as many negative behaviors are self-reinforcing, we often view related positive behaviors as more trouble than they're worth.—Colleen Dunn Bates
Colleen Dunn BatesExamples of self-reinforcing in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When winning becomes the only thing that matters, unethical fighting becomes progressively more forceful in self-reinforcing ways.
—Ray Dalio, TIME, 25 June 2024
The danger is self-reinforcing, as the unlawful nature of many basement apartments, and all cellar apartments, makes tenants wary of rocking the boat with landlords or city authorities.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 9 May 2024
But within this self-reinforcing climate, there is simply now an easier path to escalatory conduct.
—Dmitry Adamsky, Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2023
That increase in demand causes the price to increase, which causes even more interest in a self-reinforcing cycle.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
The group wants to discourage this self-reinforcing cycle of electing more and more extreme ends of the political spectrum.
—Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Apr. 2024
Demographers have previously warned that once fertility rates fall beneath a certain threshold, lifting them becomes extremely difficult because of self-reinforcing economic and social mechanisms.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
These trends are now self-reinforcing as more installations mean more use cases, which generates more data, in turn driving wider applications, leading to yet more installations.
—Kevin O'Marah, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
That’s the one market where the world’s most popular messenger—WhatsApp—has yet to build a dominant foothold, and where iPhone’s own dominance, especially among the young, boosts iMessage through a self-reinforcing network effect.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
Ray Dalio, TIME, 25 June 2024
The danger is self-reinforcing, as the unlawful nature of many basement apartments, and all cellar apartments, makes tenants wary of rocking the boat with landlords or city authorities.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 9 May 2024
But within this self-reinforcing climate, there is simply now an easier path to escalatory conduct.
—Dmitry Adamsky, Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2023
That increase in demand causes the price to increase, which causes even more interest in a self-reinforcing cycle.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
The group wants to discourage this self-reinforcing cycle of electing more and more extreme ends of the political spectrum.
—Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Apr. 2024
Demographers have previously warned that once fertility rates fall beneath a certain threshold, lifting them becomes extremely difficult because of self-reinforcing economic and social mechanisms.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
These trends are now self-reinforcing as more installations mean more use cases, which generates more data, in turn driving wider applications, leading to yet more installations.
—Kevin O'Marah, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
That’s the one market where the world’s most popular messenger—WhatsApp—has yet to build a dominant foothold, and where iPhone’s own dominance, especially among the young, boosts iMessage through a self-reinforcing network effect.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-reinforcing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near self-reinforcing
Cite this Entry
“Self-reinforcing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-reinforcing. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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