How to Use self-contained in a Sentence

self-contained

adjective
  • The whole unit is ruggedized and self-contained.
    New Atlas, 2 Dec. 2025
  • The entire light is self-contained and made with stainless steel.
    Megan Boettcher, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 July 2023
  • Nearby, the guest house is self-contained with a kitchen and dining area.
    Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 2 Jan. 2025
  • But Ukraine should be able to cope—with bombs whose guidance systems are self-contained.
    David Axe, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
  • The sea, just steps away, completes the circle, making the home self-contained in more ways than one.
    Tessa Watson, ELLE Decor, 14 Aug. 2023
  • Her classroom was self-contained, with children whose ages ranged from 5-13.
    IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Compared to some of this season’s more plot- and character-heavy episodes, this one is fairly self-contained.
    Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Everything here is sealed off, self-contained, almost embalmed.
    Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Each season of the show is self-contained and introduces new cast, characters and settings.
    Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
  • This kit is completely self-contained and has everything your kids will need to create up to 15 bracelets.
    Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Like any significant health or lifestyle issue, what happens at home isn't self-contained.
    Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Trauma has left him dour and self-contained, as inaccessible to others as his childhood is to him.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
  • To make the power bank self-contained, it is supplied with a pair of cables for charging multiple devices.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025
  • But while the main plot of each movie may be informed by what came before, the films themselves remain more or less completely self-contained.
    Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 15 July 2023
  • And so a lot of these things are actually fully self-contained and there is no risk of big meltdown or those kind of events that happened before.
    Ayesha Javed, TIME, 16 Feb. 2025
  • There’s no installer; the program is entirely self-contained.
    PC Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Seasons are also short — just six episodes each — and every season is relatively self-contained.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2024
  • But also, there are artistic statements that should be both self-contained and in dynamic conversations with the world around them.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Or something that’s extreme, like Law & Order or a sitcom, where every episode is self-contained.
    Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Van Booy’s gift for language is immersive, creating a world as artfully self-contained as a snow globe.
    Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 May 2024
  • That said, future versions may ultimately be fully self-contained.
    New Atlas, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Those images of our home planet—big, blue, yet as cozily self-contained as a snow globe—yielded a striking sense of how connected life is.
    Danny Heitman, WSJ, 22 June 2023
  • But Nobody’s Girl floats free, self-assured and self-contained—a true American tragedy.
    Julia Hass, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Usually, what happens during the crossovers is pretty self-contained, when possible.
    Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 4 Mar. 2026
  • They are self-contained with child care, education, markets and neighborhood retail.
    Davin Hong, Baltimore Sun, 9 Jan. 2024
  • Corsica is more rugged and self-contained—rocky coastline, mountain roads that drop you straight to the water, and beaches that can feel remote even in summer.
    Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 31 May 2026
  • Not separate, but self-contained, with their own rhythm of light, materiality, and silence.
    Mary Holland, Architectural Digest, 16 June 2026
  • The process uses up to 80% less water to get the same output as its counterparts, and is essentially self-contained.
    Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Newman and Macdonald shared whether or not their show’s storylines will pick up after the events of the crossover or if the special event was self-contained.
    Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025
  • The stand-alone Buddhas in the show’s last gallery are self-contained and expressively commanding, and modern-looking.
    Holland Cotter, New York Times, 21 July 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-contained.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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