The compound word ‘self-acclaimed’ has been used by some speakers of the English language in place of ‘self-proclaimed’ for a long time. However, whoever coined such word has not enjoyed grammatical recognition up to today.
No English dictionary has ‘self-acclaimed’ in its lexicon nor does it exist in English language. The word ‘acclaimed’ is an adjective meaning ‘attracting public approval and praise’ but does not have the compound form ‘self-acclaimed’.
The correct word is ‘self-proclaimed’, an adjective used to describe what someone said or announced about themselves without approval or recognition by others.
Examples:
- He is a self-proclaimed expert in molecular science.
- All self-proclaimed politicians eventually embarrass themselves.