Self-actualization

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled. uncountable, usually

    "This is not an exercise in self-actualization at other people's expense. That's what you've been doing up until now. This is about acknowledging your faults to the people you've hurt without hurting them more."

Synonyms

All synonyms
self-realization

Example

More examples

"This is not an exercise in self-actualization at other people's expense. That's what you've been doing up until now. This is about acknowledging your faults to the people you've hurt without hurting them more."

Etymology

From self- + actualization. Probably applied in this sense by Abraham Maslow.

Related phrases

self-actualize

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.