self-made

American  

[self-meyd] / ˈsɛlfˈmeɪd /

adjective

1. having succeeded in life unaided.

   He is a self-made man.

2. made by oneself.

---

self-made British  

adjective

1. having achieved wealth, status, etc, by one's own efforts

2. made by oneself

---

Etymology

Origin of self-made

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Often called the consummate “self-made man,” Franklin wrote his autobiography in four parts over 19 years.

From The Wall Street Journal

Kadens, who grew up in Toledo, Ohio, before moving to Chicago, is tapping into what CSU President Z Scott calls students’ growing interest in self-made affluence, fueled partly by social media.

From The Wall Street Journal

Left to her own devices by a pandering script, she alone draws the line where loneliness ends and freedom begins, keeping “Die My Love” from plunging completely into its self-made inferno.

From Salon

And yet it's very much classic Forest, a club that veers from success to self-made disaster like a learner driver who can't stay in a lane.

From BBC

That video was soon deleted and replaced with a self-made video, in which Deen once again issued an apology, CNN reported.

From Salon