self-made

Definition

Having achieved success by one's own efforts, with little to no support from family members and others.

Etymology

From self- + made.

Example Sentences

• "My father was the quintessential self-made man."
• "There was I a dragoon, roving, unsettled, not self-made like him, but self-unmade—all my earlier advantages thrown away, all my little learning unlearnt, nothing picked up but what unfitted me for most things that I could think of."
• "“These were people who were self-made, and self-made people made up their own words,” Mr. Sokolowski added."

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