as in independence
the ability to care for one's self
some people don't achieve self-reliance until they're over 30 years old
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of self-reliance
Regardless, what’s interesting here is that the tendency toward self-reliance in decision-making appears to be a human universal, not just a Western trait.
—
New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2025
For those craving a private sanctuary, the property offers security, self-reliance, and full immersion in one of the West’s most pristine and historically rich landscapes.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2025
In an extensive Independence Day speech on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a concerted push for self-reliance and proposed a spate of financial reforms.
—Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025
For years, DeMarco has held fast to a salty ethos of self-reliance that includes resistance to the notion of scaling up.
—Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-reliance
New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2025
For those craving a private sanctuary, the property offers security, self-reliance, and full immersion in one of the West’s most pristine and historically rich landscapes.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2025
In an extensive Independence Day speech on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a concerted push for self-reliance and proposed a spate of financial reforms.
—Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025
For years, DeMarco has held fast to a salty ethos of self-reliance that includes resistance to the notion of scaling up.
—Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-reliance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-reliance
Noun
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The Athletic maintains full editorial independence.—
Data Skrive,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
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Despite the change, the country remains home to the longest-running civil war in the world since gaining its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For independent, rural hospitals, the networks are an alternative to shutting down or reducing services, or to giving up local autonomy and joining a large hospital system.—
Arielle Zionts,
NPR,
2 Sep. 2025
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Witches were no longer solely perceived as agents of Satan, but cool girls and women who had agency and autonomy over their lives.—
Taylor Crumpton,
Time,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At the same time, philosophies like Garveyism, which had emphasized separation, self-sufficiency, and building parallel Black institutions, declined in popularity.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
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The giants of Silicon Valley have a lot in common with Laura Ingalls Wilder, who portrayed her life on the prairie as a triumph of self-sufficiency, barely mentioning that the government underwrote the railroads, provided the farmland and tided the family through rough winters.—
Binyamin Appelbaum,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-reliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-reliance. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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