self-contained
- adjective
- /ˌsɛlf kənˈteɪnd/
- Even in stressful situations, she remained a self-contained individual, displaying calm and composure.
- a self-contained man
- a self-contained person
- quiet and self-contained
The students who felt ready, confident, self-contained about this idea.
- The students who felt ready, confident, self-contained about this idea.
- Anger in boiling, simmering, you know, self-contained, seething.
Examples
-
The girl was self-contained, dark-haired, and beautiful; she was young but at the same time mythical, like Cleopatra.
Academic text (2007) -
I think he should come along with me, but he seems so self-contained.
Fiction book (2000) -
You are the first, but you will pay the same price all of them will pay me, she said, now perfectly calm and self-contained.
Fiction book (1994) -
I think I could turn and live with animals; they are so placid and self-contained.
Academic text (2011) -
She's always been a little self-contained.
Fiction book (1998) -
They were very self-contained and went for long walks with their dog.
Fiction book (1999) -
Hollis has the anxious look of an errand boy, while Buddy is self-contained and quietly forceful for his age.
Fiction book (1996) -
Moses has a self-contained demeanor that impresses his classmates with its peacefulness.
-
The self-contained expression on her face suggested she was in control of her emotions.
Synonyms
Confident about your abilities and decisions
Calm and confident in control of your feelings in difficult situations
Calm and confident in a difficult situation
Calm and steady in difficult situations
Calm and in control of your feelings in difficult situations
Calm and in control during a difficult situation
Antonyms
How Composed
Surface Forms
Morphology
self-contained = contained (semi-transparent) = self + contain + ed
Adding self- to contained is compositionally straightforward, because the form clearly signals something characterized by being contained in or by oneself.
Etymology
Self-contained comes from self ('oneself') and contain ('to hold inside'), so a self-contained person keeps their feelings 'inside' and appears calm and in control.