Definition of "self-evident" [self•-ev•i•dent]

• Requiring no proof or explanation. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "a _self-evident truth; _ but now, when we have grown fat, and have lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the maxim '_a self-evident lie_.'"
• "The professors acknowledge that placing terrorist in quotation marks “may be jarring for some readers who consider the designation self-evident.”"
• "To the extent that it does the latter, the United States does so in the name of self-evident truths that apply to the good of all men."