Standard Lemma guide

self-sufficient

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪʃənt
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH2 L F S AH0 F IH1 SH AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: S EH2 L F S AH0 F IH1 SH IH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Able to provide for oneself independently of others; not needing external support.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Overconfident in one's own abilities; arrogant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

able to provide for your own needs without help from others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a self-sufficing economic unit

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: self-sufficing, self-sustaining

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From self- + sufficient, a calque of Ancient Greek αὐτάρκης (autárkēs).

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: самадастатко́вы (samadastatkóvy) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Bulgarian: самодоста́тъчен (samodostátǎčen) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Bulgarian: самостоя́телен (samostojátelen) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Catalan: autosuficient — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自給自足的 /自给自足的 (zìjǐzìzúdē dė) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Czech: soběstačný — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Danish: selvforsynende — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Dutch: zelfvoorzienend — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Finnish: omavarainen — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • French: autosuffisant — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Georgian: თვითკმარი (tvitḳmari) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Georgian: დამოუკიდებელი (damouḳidebeli) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Georgian: ავტარკიული (avṭarḳiuli) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • German: selbstgenügsam — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Greek: αυτάρκης (aftárkis) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Ancient Greek: αὐτάρκης (autárkēs) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Hindi: आत्मनिर्भर (ātmanirbhar) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Hindi: स्वावलंबी (svāvlambī) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Hungarian: önellátó — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Indonesian: mandiri — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Irish: neamhthuilleamaíoch — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Italian: autosufficiente — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Japanese: 自給自足ができる — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Norwegian Bokmål: selvberget — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Norwegian Bokmål: selvforsørgende — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Pannonian Rusyn: самодостаточни (samodostatočni) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Polish: samowystarczalny — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Portuguese: autossuficiente — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Romanian: independent — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Russian: самодоста́точный (samodostátočnyj) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Scottish Gaelic: fèin-fhoghainteach — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Spanish: autosuficiente — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Swedish: självförsörjande — able to provide for oneself independently of others
  • Ukrainian: самодоста́тній (samodostátnij) — able to provide for oneself independently of others
Real reading context

self-sufficient in complete knowledge articles