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autonomy

noun

Simple meaning

The right or condition of self-government.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awtahnuhmee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɔˈtɑnəmi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uncountable

    The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.

  2. governmentcountable

    A self-governing country or region.

  3. philosophyuncountable

    The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (government, countable) A self-governing country or region.

Used this way, autonomy is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Official and authoritative
Usage feel
Formal and precise

Where it naturally appears

  • Government/politics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use autonomy

  • “Many young adults desire more autonomy as they move away from home.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Self / status

regional autonomy

Immunity

political autonomy

Personal

personal autonomy

Other combinations

local autonomyindividual autonomygreater autonomyrelative autonomycultural autonomy

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Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: right or condition of self-government

liberty

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.