self-governed

adjective

ˌself-ˈgə-vərnd How to pronounce self-governed (audio)
Definition of self-governednext
as in independent
not being under the rule or control of another far beyond the reach of civil or military authorities, the settlers on the frontier were essentially self-governed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of self-governed Villa Marin is self-governed by its residents who own their apartments and pay an average of $6,000 a month in HOA fees. — Itay Hod, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 If individuals are self-governed and do the right thing, less laws and cameras are needed. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026 As a management company, RealManage supports the association’s right to be self-governed. — Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026 Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, after Nationalist forces fled to the island following their defeat by Chinese Communist powers. — Solcyré Burga, Time, 29 Dec. 2025 Overcrowded, under-resourced, and often effectively self-governed, these facilities have long served as incubators where armed groups recruit, reorganize, and expand their influence. — Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 10 Dec. 2025 Greenland, which became self-governed in 2009, was colonized by Denmark some 300 years ago and still controls Greenland’s foreign and defense policies. — Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025 Local nonprofit Safe Ground Sacramento was responsible for operating the camp, which was self-governed by residents. — Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-governed
  1. independent
  2. autonomous
  3. sovereign
Adjective
  • At the end of September, leaders of several of the biggest AI companies went to the White House and signed an accord committing to internal risk controls, independent audits and board-level oversight of safety.
    — Giorgos Tsetis, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • However, the ministry’s statement does not provide independent verification of the results or disclose additional technical details about the missiles’ performance.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of independent
Adjective
  • Instead, the test showed how a human could direct a semi-autonomous platform while its software handled the details of executing instructions.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Holland was ousted in 2020, when Sarandos combined English-language and international content under Bajaria (elevating the latter to the largest autonomous content job in the streamer’s history).
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of autonomous
Adjective
  • About 90% of the investor base of the company, including Larry Ellison, the Oracle billionaire and father of Skydance CEO David Ellison, as well as RedBird Capital, Middle East sovereign wealth funds and other backers, did not receive the warrants.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund isn’t slowing its dealmaking, a senior executive said, even as the Iran war gutted the state’s revenue by 42% in the first half of the year.
    — Kelsey Warner, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of sovereign

Browse Nearby Words

self-governance
self-governed
self-governing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Self-governed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-governed. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All