Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Motivated by or exhibiting devotion to the public welfare.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having or exercising a disposition to promote the interest or advantage of the community; disposed to make private sacrifices for the public good: as, a public-spirited citizen.
- Dictated by or based on regard for the public good: as, a public-spirited measure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having, or exercising, a disposition to advance the interest of the community or public.
- adjective Dictated by a regard to public good.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having personal
motivation toward thebetterment of thepublic .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective showing unselfish interest in the public welfare
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Let us persuade some of our more public-spirited representatives to introduce in Congress a Concurrent Resolution stating that for all legal purposes a "person" shall be a natural person. i.e., a human being.
Paula Gordon: Who is "We"? Paula Gordon 2011
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Self-serving and public-spirited doctors alike want a break from top-down revolution.
National Health Service: Dogma, democracy and the doctors | Editorial 2011
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"Faced with continued economic challenges, many mayors are working to take advantage of every available resource – including the time and energy of public-spirited residents – to solve local challenges," Bloomberg said Wednesday during an appearance in Newark with Mayor Cory Booker to announce that city's program and discuss how the participating cities have tailored their volunteer efforts to their own needs.
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I admire the erudite and public-spirited members of the Montgomery County Board of Education.
Why do great school systems fear charters? Jay Mathews 2011
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The Confucian view is that political leaders should be the most talented and public-spirited members of the community, and the process of choosing such leaders should be meritocratic, meaning that there should be equal opportunity for the best to rise to the top.
Confucianism vs. Irrational Voters, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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"Faced with continued economic challenges, many mayors are working to take advantage of every available resource – including the time and energy of public-spirited residents – to solve local challenges," Bloomberg said Wednesday during an appearance in Newark with Mayor Cory Booker to announce that city's program and discuss how the participating cities have tailored their volunteer efforts to their own needs.
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Policymakers must step in as the referees to determine how best to put this limited resource to its most public-spirited use.
Jonathan Spalter: The Spectrum Shot Clock Jonathan Spalter 2011
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That would also be a public-spirited and civic-minded thing for them to do.
More hemming and hawing on Lents meeting procedure (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009
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Including youth in a real, substantive way in politics will lead to even more interest as they take their public-spirited nature into the political realm.
Charles Orgbon: We the People, We the Teens Charles Orgbon 2011
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Pawlak said: "Mr Tsang and his girlfriend were extremely public-spirited in coming forward to help the police in their inquiries and therefore I would like that to be acknowledged in due course by way of a commendation and perhaps some financial reward."
Teenager convicted of attacking Malaysian student during London riots 2012
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