selfish
Americanadjective
-
devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
- Synonyms:
- stingy, parsimonious, illiberal, egoistic, self-seeking, self-interested
-
characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself.
selfish motives.
adjective
-
chiefly concerned with one's own interest, advantage, etc, esp to the total exclusion of the interests of others
-
relating to or characterized by self-interest
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of selfish
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How does selfish compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Someone who is selfish cares only about themselves and doesn't consider others. If a ship is sinking and you refuse to let anyone else into your 4-person lifeboat, you're extremely selfish. Selfish combines the pronoun self-, meaning to or for yourself, with the suffix-ish, for "having the character of." So if your actions are selfish, they all have to do with getting something for yourself, like attention, or candy, or power. Selfish is usually meant to be an insult; someone selfish goes beyond just taking care of themselves, and actively takes from others. The opposite of selfish is self-sacrificing, which means, "giving everything to others and sacrificing your own needs."
Vocabulary lists containing selfish
More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Never Enough: Synonyms for "Greedy"
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We Were Liars
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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.
He called the offending "organised and sophisticated criminality which has been committed for selfish gain".
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
Coroner Elizabeth Wheeler recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure but added: "I am concerned that selfish and illegal parking can have an impact of delaying emergency vehicles which can have implications for future deaths."
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
She’s there to see if her newly married, newly wealthy and perennially selfish sister, Frances, might be willing to spare some money to help her family back home.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Which is why you might want to take an interest in what’s actually happening inside these homes — even if only for selfish reasons.
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
“You want me to change. To be better, less selfish, less jealous.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
