noun
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concern for one's own interests and welfare
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ethics the theory that the pursuit of one's own welfare is the highest good Compare altruism
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self-centredness; egotism
Synonym Usage
See egotism.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of egoism
First recorded in 1775–85; from French égoïsme, from New Latin egoismus, equivalent to ego ego ( def. ) + -ismus -ism ( def. )
Explanation
Someone who is full of himself and doesn't give a darn about other people has a healthy supply of egoism. Egoism means "me me me me me-ism." Egoism has a lot to do with selfishness, which sounds like a bad thing, right? Not necessarily. Some people think that being selfish is the best thing to do for the world as a whole. In other words, if everyone is selfish, everyone will be better off. So egoism can be considered positive or negative — it all depends how someone uses the word. This makes egoism different from egotism — an always yucky type of selfishness.
Vocabulary lists containing egoism
Some Political and Philosophical -isms
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Power Suffix: -ism
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The Suffix -ism, Part 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I think that in the dynamic of multilateral diplomacy, we need to avoid egoism, egoism of the north towards the south.”
From Washington Times • Dec. 9, 2023
Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday the "egoism" of some nations was hampering efforts to seal a long-awaited treaty to protect the world's oceans.
From Reuters • Jun. 27, 2022
It’s a mistake to think that giving special weight to your own interests and concerns is egoism; egoism is giving them more weight than they merit.
From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2021
Right from its inception, socialism was contrasted with individualism and egoism, of the selfish and self-centered pursuit of wealth and power.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020
The truth of egoism is the truth of altruism: the truly moral is the truly religious: and each is not what it professes to be unless it anticipate the later, or include the earlier.
From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
