Meaning & use
self-reliance
The ability to think and act for oneself and manage one's own needs without depending on others.
See it in a sentence
Growing up on a remote farm taught her a strong sense of self-reliance.
The survival course was designed to build self-reliance in unfamiliar wilderness conditions.
A note on using this word
Self-reliance emphasizes personal capability and confidence, closely related to but slightly broader than 'self-sufficiency,' which often focuses on material needs.
Words with a similar meaning
independenceself-sufficiency
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
dependence
Make it your own
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