self-actualization.

The development or fulfillment of one’s capacities and potential, especially in humanistic psychological accounts.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• pursuit of self-actualization
• personal self-actualization

On the page

The essay treated self-actualization as a humanistic ideal rather than a guaranteed stage of development.

Her pursuit of self-actualization involved revising goals rather than simply increasing achievement.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / character / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: characterization, motivation analysis, behavioral comparison, qualification. Disciplines: psychology, social behavior, character writing. Commonness: uncommon.