selfishness

[sel-fish-nis]

noun

1. the quality or state of caring only for oneself or one’s own interests.

   The author rants at length about the selfishness and general disregard for others that he sees at the root of modern society.

Word History and Origins

Origin of selfishness¹

selfish ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

“I lost my way. I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess. My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core.”

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"My downfall was rooted in my selfishness. I have been humbled and broken to my core."

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Abraham Lincoln, in a reply to Sen. Stephen Douglas dated October 16, 1854, said that slavery was founded in the selfishness of man’s nature and opposition to it was founded in his love of justice.

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Winners are primed to yell over the music playing them off, but competing against a visual measure of one’s alleged selfishness had more of a chilling effect.

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She adds an expletive to the end of this pronouncement, but no emphasis is needed for a daughter who has already indicted herself for selfishness, the one unpardonable sin for a Latina.

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Related Words

• greed 
• self-indulgence www.thesaurus.com