Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Serving or designed to protect oneself.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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Two hours come and go, and the self-protective defiance many of the girls had brought with them transforms into extraordinary honesty—heartache and fear laid bare.
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Apparently, some readers need such "self-protective strategies" that "buy time, until the reader can sort out what is happening to her emotionally ...."
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Apparently, some readers need such "self-protective strategies" that "buy time, until the reader can sort out what is happening to her emotionally ...."
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I have never engaged in a "self-protective strategy" in order to "buy time," especially not to "sort out" my emotions.
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Poetry's declining status has made its embattled practitioners insular and self-protective: personal friendships have spawned cliques and coteries in book and magazine publishing, prize committees and grants organisations.
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I have never engaged in a "self-protective strategy" in order to "buy time," especially not to "sort out" my emotions.
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And regarding the former, it may be brave souls like Susan Boyle, with her obvious self-protective armament on display as she exchanges banter with the three judges, who shatter the boundaries by their sheer will and their enormous gifts.
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In an effort to be self-protective, many wounded people try to fool themselves and others, constructing elaborate facades that bear little resemblance to the truth.
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In an effort to be self-protective, many wounded people try to fool themselves and others, constructing elaborate facades that bear little resemblance to the truth.
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In an effort to be self-protective, many wounded people try to fool themselves and others, constructing elaborate facades that bear little resemblance to the truth.
Comments
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