in and of itself

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Considered alone, without additional context or factors

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Được xem xét riêng, không có thêm ngữ cảnh hoặc yếu tố

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The new policy is problematic in and of itself

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “in and of itself” mean?

Considered alone, without additional context or factors

Is “in and of itself” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.