Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Freedom from selfishness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Quality or state of being selfless.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality or state of being selfless.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others
  • noun acting with less concern for yourself than for the success of the joint activity

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The other meaning of self occurs in the term selflessness, where it refers to a falsely imagined, overconcretized status of existence called “inherent existence.”

    How to See Yourself As You Really Are Dalai Lama 2006

  • The other meaning of self occurs in the term selflessness, where it refers to a falsely imagined, overconcretized status of existence called “inherent existence.”

    How to See Yourself As You Really Are Dalai Lama 2006

  • Thanks to all involved for the true lesson in selflessness and service.

    Veterans Get the Gift of Hunting 2009

  • Thanks to all involved for the true lesson in selflessness and service.

    Veterans Get the Gift of Hunting 2009

  • Whether this selflessness is generous, self-defeating, or quite heroic, that mindset seems to shape part of the world these characters live in.

    A BookBrowse exclusive interview in which Karen Rigby chats with poet Alice Fulton about her first collection of short stories, The Nightingales of Troy. 2010

  • At least there's something there beyond your self and your own wits to cling to, a certain selflessness amid the terrible egoism of a writer.

    Realism in Fiction 2008

  • In truth, persons exist but without inherent existence, and this is called the selflessness of persons; when it comes to other phenomena such as eyes, ears, body, mind, mountain, and the like, this is called the selflessness of phenomena.

    Becoming Enlightened Dalai Lama 2009

  • In truth, persons exist but without inherent existence, and this is called the selflessness of persons; when it comes to other phenomena such as eyes, ears, body, mind, mountain, and the like, this is called the selflessness of phenomena.

    Becoming Enlightened Dalai Lama 2009

  • In truth, persons exist but without inherent existence, and this is called the selflessness of persons; when it comes to other phenomena such as eyes, ears, body, mind, mountain, and the like, this is called the selflessness of phenomena.

    Becoming Enlightened Dalai Lama 2009

  • In truth, persons exist but without inherent existence, and this is called the selflessness of persons; when it comes to other phenomena such as eyes, ears, body, mind, mountain, and the like, this is called the selflessness of phenomena.

    Becoming Enlightened Dalai Lama 2009

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