Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Concerned chiefly or excessively with oneself, and having little regard for others.
- adjective Showing or arising from an excessive concern with oneself and a lack of concern for others.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Caring only for self; influenced solely or chiefly by motives of personal or private pleasure or advantage: as, a selfish person.
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one who cares solely or chiefly for his own personal or private pleasure, interest, or advantage; proceeding from love of self: as, selfish motives.
- Synonyms Mean, illiberal, self-seeking.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Caring supremely or unduly for one's self; regarding one's own comfort, advantage, etc., in disregard, or at the expense, of those of others.
- adjective (Ethics) Believing or teaching that the chief motives of human action are derived from love of self.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Holding one’s self-interest as the standard for decision making.
- adjective Having regard for oneself above others’ well-being.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Nor yet would the term selfish apply to an East End music hall audience when they eject any one who belongs to a different social class to themselves and wears good clothes.
The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage Almroth Wright 1904
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Don Manuel was indignant at what he termed the selfish and unfeeling conduct of Villabuena, who would thus sacrifice his daughter's happiness to his own pride and ambition.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845. Various
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There is the word selfish, that is, being absorbed in one's own self; in getting every stream to flow by his own door.
Quiet Talks on Power S.D. Gordon
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Now this is what I call selfish, after all, said I to myself: you will only enjoy yourself with those whose broken peace you have mended.
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 02 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes Kuno Francke 1892
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But Calipari saw what he called "selfish" play in the first half.
NYDN Rss ROGER RUBIN 2011
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Dawkins coined the term selfish gene as a way of expressing the gene-centered view of evolution, which holds that evolution is best viewed as acting on genes, and that selection at the level of organisms or populations almost never overrides selection based on genes.
Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] EmersonWhitecp 2010
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Dawkins coined the term selfish gene as a way of expressing the gene-centered view of evolution, which holds that evolution is best viewed as acting on genes, and that selection at the level of organisms or populations almost never overrides selection based on genes.
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In his first public appearance since revelations of marital infidelity caused his spectacular fall from grace, Woods apologized for what he called his selfish and irresponsible behaviour.
Moneycontrol Top Headlines Moneycontrol.com editor@moneycontrol.com 2010
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In his first public appearance since the scandal erupted, Woods apologized for what he called selfish and irresponsible behavior.
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In a state of the nation address Wednesday, Medvedev lashed out against what he called selfish U.S. foreign policy and announced Moscow will set up a new missile base near the Polish border.
Signs of the Times 2008
gangerh commented on the word selfish
Devoid of consideration of the selfishness of others. Thank you Ambrose Bierce.
February 15, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word selfish
Dear gangerh from 2008:
Thank you for saying exactly what I wanted to hear in 2013.
Sincerely, ruzuzu
February 13, 2013