self-assertionn.
/ˌsɛlfəˈsəːʃn/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfəˈsərʃ(ə)n/ The action or fact of asserting one's status, individuality, rights, opinions, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > self-assertiveness > [noun]
spritec1540
forwardnessa1616
perkinga1624
petulcity1628
perknessa1640
furthinessa1658
outbearing1740
self-assertion1805
bumptiousness1834
cockiness1841
perkiness1847
self-assertiveness1855
coxiness1859
forthputting1861
assertiveness1881
pushingness1881
aggression1889
pushfulness1897
pushiness1898
chestiness1909
attitude1975
1805 J. Foster Essays I. ii. vi. 191 The passions which inspirit men to resistance..put it [sc. the mind] in the habitual array of defence and self assertion.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. xliii. 72 A class whose intense self-assertion was fostered and inflamed by family names [etc.].
1906 J. Mackinnon Hist. Mod. Liberty I. 145 There is no spirit of self-assertion in these serfish centuries to aspire to self-government.
1947 R. M. French tr. N. Berdyaev Russ. Idea viii. 169 Egoistic self-assertion and alienation are the chief signs of the fall of man and of the world.
2002 Time 1 Apr. 62/1 The foremothers of American feminism would have been scandalized by the idea of drinking as a form of female self-assertion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1805