as in self-taught
having skills or knowledge acquired through one's own efforts without formal training
an autodidactic painter, John Singleton Copley learned his craft from books purchased from England
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Recent Examples of autodidactic
Over the past decade, she’s cultivated a reputation for a new kind of defiant, autodidactic pop stardom.
—
Holden Seidlitz, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Holden Seidlitz, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autodidactic
Adjective
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Born in 1970 in Herber City, Utah, Allen is largely self-taught, having begun his artistic career by whittling figures and selling them from atop an ironing board on the streets of SoHo in New York.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
24 Nov. 2025
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Despite becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the world, Frehley was famously self-taught and never had any formal instruction.—
Jacqueline Weiss,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The showdown pitted amateur players and celebrities against an elite field of 24 professionals, which included the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
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Now, her film about a team of amateur sleuths cracking the case has been selected to premiere at SXSW.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Autodidactic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autodidactic. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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