autotelic

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autotelic

/ˈɔːtəˌtɛlɪk/
/ˌɔːtəˈtɛlɪk/

Where it comes from

From Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós, “self”) + τέλος (télos, “result; end”); compare auto- and telic. From early 20th century.

adjective more autotelic · most autotelic

of an activity Containing its own meaning or purpose; deriving meaning and purpose from within. 1988, Antonella Della Fave, Fausto Massimini, 12: Modernization and the changing contexts in work and leisure, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Isabella Selega Csikszentmihalyi (editors), Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness, Cambridge University Press, 1992, Paperback, page 20
Of or pertaining to the quality of (a thing's) being autotelic. 1988, Kevin Rathunde, Optimal experience and the family context, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Isabella Selega Csikszentmihalyi (editors), Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness, 1992, Paperback, Cambridge University Press, page 251, The autotelic score was negatively correlat
of a work of art or literature Not motivated by anything beyond itself; thematically self-contained. “Running Water Music II” represents a contemporary version of the autotelic poem, freer than its modernist predecessors to assert connections, celebrate openly, declare connections between self and world, but bound by semantic and imagistic frames that derive from a single source.

Opposite: non-autotelic, nonautotelic

noun autotelics

An autotelic person, a person with an autotelic personality. Measuring autotelic personality similarly with young adults, Hektner (1996) confirmed that autotelics were least happy and motivated in apathy (low-challenge, low-skill) situations, whereas nonautotelics (those least motivated in high-challenge, high-skill situations) did not find the apathy conditi

Opposite: non-autotelic, nonautotelic

Thesaurus

adjective

Opposite: non-autotelic, nonautotelic

noun

Opposite: non-autotelic, nonautotelic

Translations

Every language

adj containing its own meaning or purpose

Español	autotélico
Français	autotélique
Italiano	autotelico, autotelici, autotelica, autoteliche

adj deriving meaning and purpose from within

Français	autotélique
Italiano	autotelico, autotelici, autotelica, autoteliche

adj not motivated by anything beyond itself

Français	autotélique
Italiano	autotelico, autotelici, autotelica, autoteliche

noun autotelic person

Français	personne autotélique

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MLA

"autotelic." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/autotelic. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

autotelic. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/autotelic

Chicago

"autotelic." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/autotelic.

BibTeX

@misc{autotelic_2026,
  title = {autotelic},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/autotelic},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}