self-made man
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Macaulay was a self-made man elevated to the pinnacle of Britain’s ruling class, thanks to his precocious intelligence and scholarly brilliance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Margaret Thatcher's biographer Lord Charles Moore said he was the "first important personal example of Thatcherism in action because he was the self-made man from the working class and he was unapologetic about that".
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
The team’s owner, oil and gas tycoon Terry Pegula, is even richer than Fisher, with a net worth of $6.8 billion, according to Forbes; he’s also almost entirely a self-made man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
Delors was a rarity in French public life: a self-made man from a working-class home who did not come up through the prestigious “grandes ecoles.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
He seemed a druggist in name only; he more closely fit the prevailing ideal of the self-made man who through hard work and invention pulled himself rung by rung into the upper strata of society.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
