self-perpetuating
Keeps itself going
Self-perpetuating describes something that sustains or renews itself without external intervention.
A self-perpetuating cycle of poverty continues because the conditions it creates feed back into the causes.
Self-perpetuating bureaucracies grow and justify their own existence.
The term often carries a note of criticism—implying something persists not because it's needed but because it's designed to keep itself going.
Lasting without end
- ongoingIn progress now
- continuousWithout pause or gap
- unendingLacking any terminus
- persistentContinuing despite difficulty
indefinite · perennial · chronic · sustained · enduring · lasting · permanent · ceaseless
Adding support or encouragement
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- repetitionAct of redoing
- recurrenceReturn of something previous
entrenchment · habit · inertia · spiral · amplification · compounding · escalation · recursive
Established organization or custom
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- oligarchyRule by few
- eliteSuperior select group
hierarchy · tradition · establishment · nepotism · cronyism · incumbency · entrenchment · hereditary
Copying or procreation
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
- mitosisNuclear division producing identical cells
- replicationAct of duplicating precisely
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
gene · mutation · evolution · organism · colony · species · propagation · lineage
eternal
Lasting without end
- ongoingIn progress now
- continuousWithout pause or gap
- unendingLacking any terminus
persistent · indefinite · perennial · chronic · sustained · enduring · lasting · permanent · ceaseless · uninterrupted
reinforcement
Adding support or encouragement
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- repetitionAct of redoing
recurrence · entrenchment · habit · inertia · spiral · amplification · compounding · escalation · recursive · circular
institution
Established organization or custom
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- oligarchyRule by few
elite · hierarchy · tradition · establishment · nepotism · cronyism · incumbency · entrenchment · hereditary · succession
reproduction
Copying or procreation
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
- mitosisNuclear division producing identical cells
- replicationAct of duplicating precisely
heredity · gene · mutation · evolution · organism · colony · species · propagation · lineage · metabolism
self-perpetuatingdependent
Requiring outside support
reliant · supported · subsidized · propped up · maintained
self-perpetuatingself-limiting
Automatically constraining its scope
self-extinguishing · self-destructing · self-defeating · finite · dying out
self, perpetuate, perpetuating, perpetuated, perpetuates, perpetuation, perpetual, perpetually, perpetuity