Adjacent Words

self-contained definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: constituting a complete and independent unit in and of itself; "the university is like a self-contained city with shops and all amenities"
2: in full control of your faculties; "the witness remained collected throughout the cross-examination"; "perfectly poised and sure of himself"; "more self-contained and more dependable than many of the early frontiersmen"; "strong and self-possessed in the face of trouble" [syn: collected, equanimous, poised, self-collected, self-contained, self-possessed]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1591 1. a. complete in itself ; independent <a self-contained machine> <a self-contained program of study> b. built-in <a lectern with a self-contained light fixture> 2. a. showing self-control b. formal and reserved in manner • self-containedly adverb • self-containedness noun • self-containment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person) uncommunicative; independent. 2 Brit. (esp. of living-accommodation) complete in itself. Derivatives: self-containment n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Self-contained Self`-con*tained", a. 1. Having self-control; reserved; uncommunicative; wholly engrossed in one's self. 2. (Mach.) Having all the essential working parts connected by a bedplate or framework, or contained in a case, etc., so that mutual relations of the parts do not depend upon fastening outside of the machine itself. Self-contained steam engine. (a) A steam engine having both bearings for the crank shaft attached to the frame of the engine. (b) A steam engine and boiler combined and fastened together; a portable steam engine.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You can describe someone or something as self-contained when they are complete and separate and do not need help or resources from outside. He seems completely self-contained and he doesn't miss you when you're not there... ...self-contained economic blocs. ADJ 2. Self-contained accommodation such as a flat has all its own facilities, so that a person living there does not have to share rooms such as a kitchen or bathroom with other people. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Reserved, reticent, taciturn.

Moby Thesaurus

acquisitive, aloof, ambitious for self, autarchic, autarkic, autistic, autonomous, bashful, calm, careerist, close, collected, complete, composed, controlled, cool, detached, dissociable, distant, egotistical, entire, even-tempered, formal, free-spirited, freewheeling, grasping, grave, greedy, imperturbable, in control, incompatible, independent, individualistic, inner-directed, insociable, mopey, mopish, morose, narcissistic, neutral, nonaligned, nongregarious, nonpartisan, peaceful, personalistic, placid, possessive, privatistic, remote, reserved, reticent, self-absorbed, self-admiring, self-advancing, self-besot, self-centered, self-considerative, self-controlled, self-dependent, self-determined, self-devoted, self-directing, self-esteeming, self-governed, self-governing, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-jealous, self-occupied, self-pleasing, self-possessed, self-reliant, self-seeking, self-serving, self-subsistent, self-sufficient, self-supporting, selfish, serene, serious, snug, sober, socially incompatible, solemn, sovereign, standoffish, sullen, third-force, third-world, tranquil, unclubbable, uncommunicative, uncompanionable, uncongenial, undisturbed, unemotional, unflappable, unfriendly, ungenial, unitary, unperturbed, unruffled, unsociable, unsocial, whole, withdrawn