self-reliance
noun
reliance on oneself or one's own powers, resources, etc.
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“Self-Reliance”
“Self-Reliance”(1841) An essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that advises the reader to “Trust thyself” and argues that “whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” It is the source of several well-known epigrams, such as “To be great is to be misunderstood” and “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
self-reliance
American
[self-ri-lahy-uhns, self-]
/ ˈsɛlf rɪˈlaɪ əns, ˌsɛlf- /
noun
self-reliance
British
noun
“Self-Reliance”
Cultural
Other Word Forms
- self-reliant adjective
- self-reliantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of self-reliance
First recorded in 1825–35
Explanation
Self-reliance is a quality of depending on yourself for things instead of relying on others. You might decide to prove your self-reliance by hiking the Appalachian Train on your own. When people have self-reliance, they are independent and autonomous — in other words, they take care of themselves. Some of us develop self-reliance as children, when we start to prepare food for ourselves, take the bus alone, or in other ways exert our independence. The philosopher John Stuart Mill is credited with the first use of self-reliance, in an 1883 letter in which he described it as one important quality of "a free man."
Vocabulary lists containing self-reliance
Death on the River of Doubt
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"Mary River Iron Mine Map" and "Excerpts from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association Web Site"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While the war will strengthen Beijing's ongoing push towards self-reliance, China is not really winning in this scenario, says Yu Jie from London-based think tank Chatham House.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
In addition to fostering greater self-reliance, China is looking to beat out other nations in the race to develop and commercialize the nascent technology.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
The momentum appears to be continuing into 2026, with China’s advances in AI, push for technological self-reliance and resilience in global trade buoying investor confidence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
"Our ancestors even wore it into battle. It represents Indigenous technology and self-reliance."
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
My education may have made it inevitable that I would become a citizen of the secular city, but I have come to embrace the city’s values: social mobility; pluralism; egalitarianism; self-reliance.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.