self-identify
/ˌsɛlfaɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ/
self-identify verb: to identify (oneself) with a particular person or group, or as part of a particular group.
Verb
self-identify (third-person singular simple present self-identifies, present participle self-identifying, simple past and past participle self-identified)
- To identify (oneself) with a particular person or group, or as part of a particular group.
- This is a new type of emperor; he is self-identified with the divinity, his celestial virtues legitimizing his power.1981, Jiří Frel, Roman Portraits in the J. Paul Getty Museum, page 112
- Among those who self-identified themselves as Native American, 80 percent of them had white ancestors, along with 20 percent for blacks, Hispanics, and Asians.2003, Hiroshi Fukurai, Richard Krooth, Race in the Jury Box, page 42
- To identify oneself as belonging to a particular group or category.
- In this instance, 70% of Jews self-identify as leaning to or members of the Democratic party.2013 October 2, Harry Enten, The Guardian
- When it comes to love, Beth self-identifies as “a person who is attracted to both sexes,” and is interested in upending conventional narratives.2016 May 13, Chris Lee, The New York Times
Examples of self-identify in a sentence
- So, why is self-identifying so important and how does it benefit the organization and the employee?2019 February, Jennifer S Kiesewetter Esq, “Diversity and Inclusion: Getting Candidates to Self-Identify”, in ADP:
- Whole communities laughingly self-identify as degenerate.2026 July 9, Nitsuh Abebe, “Has There Ever Been a Better Time to Be a ‘Degenerate’?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Forms of self-identify
| third-person singular present | self-identifies |
|---|---|
| present participle | self-identifying |
| past participle | self-identified |
| past | self-identified |
Origin of self-identify
From self- + identify.
Questions about self-identify
- What does self-identify mean?
- Self-identify means to identify (oneself) with a particular person or group, or as part of a particular group.
- How do you use self-identify in a sentence?
- So, why is self-identifying so important and how does it benefit the organization and the employee?
- What part of speech is self-identify?
- Self-identify is a verb.
- How do you pronounce self-identify?
- Self-identify is pronounced /ˌsɛlfaɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ/.
- What is the past tense of self-identify?
- The past tense of self-identify is self-identified.
Words near self-identify in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: self-identify (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “self-identify.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/self-identify. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.