Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

self-fulfilling prophecy

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English

Syllables: self---ful-fill-ing prophe-cy
IPA

44

Scrabble Score

22

Letters

7

Syllables

14

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true.

Example Sentences

"Whether or not we believe in astrology is irrelevant; the question is, did the Magdalenians? If so, then in a self-fulfilling prophecy they may have been organizing their lives according to a religious belief system, and not simply an economic or ecological one."
"Operator Abellio ScotRail doubled the Mon-Sat service from one train in each direction to two from May 2019 - it being something of a self-fulfilling prophecy that if you lay on trains, people might use them."

Etymology

Coined by sociologist Robert K. Merton.

Inflected Forms

self-fulfilling prophecies (plural)

Phrases

fake it till one makes it nominative determinism Pygmalion effect

Frequently Paired Words

fake it till one makes it nominative determinism Pygmalion effect self-defeating prophecy

Questions

What does self-fulfilling prophecy mean?: A prediction that, by being voiced, causes itself to come true.
Where does self-fulfilling prophecy come from?: Coined by sociologist Robert K. Merton.

How to pronounce self-fulfilling prophecy

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