Vocabulary in context
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Autobiography
A narrative of a person’s life written by that person themselves.
noun💡
Imagine This
Imagine a writer at a quiet desk, surrounded by old photos and a microphone for an audiobook. They begin to tell their life story in the first person, and as they speak, a manuscript fills with memories from childhood to adulthood.
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Sounds Like
aw-tuh-by-OG-ruh-fee
👀
Looks Like
auto + bio + graphy (self + life + writing); resembles 'biography' but self-authored
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Remember This
Autobiography is a self-authored life story. It differs from a biography (written by someone else) and from a memoir (a focused personal recollection rather than a complete life).
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Other Forms
autobiographicaladjective
autobiographicallyadverb
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Connect With
biography, memoir, diary, life story, personal narrative, self-portrait
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Note
Be careful not to confuse autobiography with autobiographical (the adjective) or with memoirs or biographies. Use autobiography for the noun referring to the full self-written life story.
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Study Deeper
Examples
- She published her autobiography last year, detailing every stage of her career from childhood to fame.
- In his autobiography, the actor recounts the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned along the way.
Synonyms
memoirlife storypersonal narrativeautobiographical accountself-written life story
Antonyms
fictionmythfantasybiography
Etymology
From Greek auto- 'self' + bios 'life' + graphein 'to write' + -ia (noun).
Mnemonic
Auto + bio + graphy = self-written life writing. Think: Auto (self) writes your own BIOGRAPHY.
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Similar Words
Related words and words with the same part of speech.
Abasement
nounThe act or instance of humiliating or degrading someone; the state of being lowered in dignity or status.
Absurdity
nounThe quality or state of being wildly unreasonable, illogical, or ridiculous; something that is completely contrary to reason or common sense.
Accent
nounA distinctive way of pronouncing words; the act of emphasizing a syllable or word (as a verb, to accent means to emphasize).
Accolade
nounAn honor; a public expression of praise or an award.
Acrimony
nounBitterness of speech or manner; ill feeling
Acronym
nounA word formed from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a single word and used as a shorthand for the full name (for example, NASA or radar).
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