noun
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a person who is preoccupied with his own interests; a selfish person
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a conceited person; egotist
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ethics a person who lives by the values of egoism
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Derived Forms
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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of egoist
From the French word égoïste, dating back to 1775–85. See ego, -ist
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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.
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In Season 1, Jamie was introduced as a loud-mouthed egoist with an affinity for flamboyant clothing, often acting as an antagonist for Brett Goldstein’s often angry, introverted Roy Kent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2022
Howard Jacobson’s novella “Pussy,” to be published in Britain in April, is a fairy tale about an egoist from a golden city who falls into a leadership position.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2017
A nervous flier but a bigger egoist, Ali once refused to buckle up when a flight attendant asked him to do so moments before take-off.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 4, 2016
The egoist doesn’t care about the public interest.
From Forbes ● Sep. 22, 2014
People think of LaFollette, the public man, as an egoist but this nursing of his son showed the utmost absence of egoism.
From Behind the Mirrors The Psychology of Disintegration at Washington by Clinton W. (Clinton Wallace) Gilbert
This demand gives the lie to a common misconception of liberalism, namely, that it is an ethic of insouciant self-indulgence, a politics for blithe egoists.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023
And so you get blowhards and sycophants, egoists and ignoramuses mixed in among those just striving to be dedicated public servants.
From Washington Post ● May 10, 2022
“Austria cannot afford any egoists right now,” he said.
From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2021
It is arduous even pretending to be interested in self-absorbed egoists.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 24, 2018
"There are three sorts of egoists: those who live themselves and let others live; those who live themselves and don't let others live; and those who neither live themselves nor let others live."
From Anne by Constance Fenimore Woolson
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.