self-help
nounEtymology From self- + help.
1
The practice of bettering oneself without relying on the assistance of others.
- a self-help book
- Look at the self-help titles in the bookstore, and you'll get a few clues about our culture. They're all about aggression and acquisition. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see a book called How to Force your Will on Other People by Giving Them the Shaft and Fucking Them out of Their Money.1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 91:
1 more example
- Amanda Straw estimates that she has read nearly 200 self-help books.2019 May 2, Nina Avramova, “When you should use self-help programs and when to skip them”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2025:
2
Law An act of redressing or preventing a wrong by one's own actions rather than through legal proceedings.
- Murder is dealt with by the law of blood-revenge, but the innocent manslayer may seek asylum at God's altar. With murder are ranked man-stealing, offences against parents, and witchcraft. Other injuries are occasions of self-help or of private suits to be adjusted at the sanctuary.1892, W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, page 340:
- self-help repossession
- Synonyms
- self-improvement
- Derived terms
- self-helpy