You searched for: “soi disant”
soi-disant (adjective) (not comparable)
1. Self-proclaimed: The soi-disant term is used to say that someone claims to be something even when that person's assertion is not valid.

Greg maintains that he has a "PhD" degree which is a soi-disant declaration because he has no advanced education of any kind.

If someone refers to himself or herself as a medical doctor, even though he or she never actually trained to be a physician, then that person is a soi-disant or false M.D.

2. Etymology: from French soi, "one's self" + disant, "saying, to say".
A reference to being self-proclaimed.
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This entry is located in the following unit: Words of French origin (page 9)