as in amateur
having skills or knowledge acquired through one's own efforts without formal training a self-instructed carpenter who does quality work

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-instructed
Adjective
  • In 1979, amateur archaeologists in Essex recovered multiple aircraft components, some of which were connected to Lowry’s plane and its crash site.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Throughout the film, del Toro flits and hovers between contradictory ideas, with the restlessness of the beautiful butterflies that Elizabeth, an amateur entomologist, likes to study.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • Born Paul Daniel Frehley to a musical family, he was self-taught — and went on to inspire millions with his guitar prowess.
    Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Self-instructed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-instructed. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.

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