as in independent
able to take care of oneself or itself without outside help
she had to take a higher-paying job in order to be self-supporting
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Recent Examples of self-supporting
Despite concerns that failure to be in the blue reading group in first grade dooms a child’s adult options to a career in coal mining (or worse, a lesser UC), both have been completely self-supporting (and not in the coal-mining industry) since graduating from college.
—
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025
The homes' cutting-edge features are designed to feed into a self-supporting energy system that powers each neighborhood with a community battery and has the capability to operate independently during a grid outage.
—Medgina Saint-Elien, House Beautiful, 23 Mar. 2023
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025
The homes' cutting-edge features are designed to feed into a self-supporting energy system that powers each neighborhood with a community battery and has the capability to operate independently during a grid outage.
—Medgina Saint-Elien, House Beautiful, 23 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-supporting
independent
Adjective
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Miner preachers and independent churches were central to the organization of miners in eastern Kentucky in the 1930s, too, during another period of violence between mine operators and miners over conditions, wages and unionization.—
The Conversation,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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Programs are housed in state attorney general offices, in nonprofits and even as independent agencies.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-supporting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-supporting. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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