self-serving
Americanadjective
-
preoccupied with one's own interests, often disregarding the truth or the interests, well-being, etc., of others.
-
serving to further one's own selfish interests.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of self-serving
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
There may be a grain of truth in that, but it is also self-serving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
This conception of the court’s role is both self-serving and an ambitious overstatement.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
But the TRA's panel said his apology was "self-serving" and did not recognise the severity of his misconduct.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
In a town — and a time — of selfishness and self-serving, Reiner was one of the good guys, always fighting, both through his films and his politics, to make the world kinder and closer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
In her enormously self-serving and revisionist autobiography, she asserted that she agreed to make the film only after Hitler promised to keep Goebbels at bay.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
