as in independent
able to take care of oneself or itself without outside help
the college student worked nights so that he would be self-sufficient
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Recent Examples of self-sufficient
The vehicle aims to promote the local production of critical goods and make the country more self-sufficient.
—
Dominic Dudley, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Crucially, the estate is also partially self-sufficient, producing its own beef, veal, lamb, cheese, eggs, honey, olive oil, gin, herbs, and seasonal vegetables (which guests are invited to pick themselves).
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
The rocketeer claimed each of these organisms — floating in the void, crowding stars like phototropic cosmic foliage — would resemble a miniature biosphere, being metabolically self-sufficient.
—Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
Very few countries can physically be self-sufficient.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-sufficient
Dominic Dudley, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Crucially, the estate is also partially self-sufficient, producing its own beef, veal, lamb, cheese, eggs, honey, olive oil, gin, herbs, and seasonal vegetables (which guests are invited to pick themselves).
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
The rocketeer claimed each of these organisms — floating in the void, crowding stars like phototropic cosmic foliage — would resemble a miniature biosphere, being metabolically self-sufficient.
—Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
Very few countries can physically be self-sufficient.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-sufficient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-sufficient
independent
Adjective
-
Jeffries first looked to California, where an independent commission had drawn a map that, in 2024, gave Democrats forty-three of the state’s fifty-two congressional seats.—
Jason Zengerle,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
By the start of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman second season in the fall of 1976, the show had expanded to 125 independent markets, now putting it in front of a potential fifty-five million households.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-sufficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-sufficient. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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