self-educate

verb

self-ed·​u·​cate ˌself-ˈe-jə-ˌkāt How to pronounce self-educate (audio)
self-educated; self-educating; self-educates

transitive verb

: to educate oneself
Libraries of all types, at their very roots, seek to provide people with the opportunity to explore knowledge and to self-educate throughout their lives.Jean Donham
The important lesson is to self-educate [=inform yourself] and research products that are safe and beneficial for your pets.Joanna Bronson

Examples of self-educate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There’s a cast of wanderers, visionaries, and itinerants, the self-educated and self-published, a long lineage of cranks and outcasts, mostly penurious, always opinionated, stretching away into the mists of pseudohistory. Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026 By contrast, Lummis, a New Englander who had attended Harvard but was largely self-educated, became fascinated by the Southwest and tirelessly promoted it. David Allen, Daily News, 29 July 2025 Books allow us to self-educate and facilitate meaningful conversations about myriad topics. Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 15 Mar. 2025 The Lincoln penny was designed not just to pay its way but to remind us that a non-billionaire — born on the prairie, self-educated, and committed to the idea of upward mobility — once rose from a log cabin to the White House. Harold Holzer, New York Daily News, 13 Feb. 2025 That's going to be incredibly important for voters to self-educate about those options just in case there are problems with the postal service. CBS News, 15 Sep. 2024 Instagram and TikTok have completely changed how new watch buyers self-educate. Cameron Barr, Robb Report, 24 July 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-educate was in 1909

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Cite this Entry

“Self-educate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-educate. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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