self-seeking

American  

[self-see-king] / ˈsɛlfˈsi kɪŋ /

noun

1. the seeking of one's own interest or selfish ends.

---

adjective

1. given to or characterized by self-seeking; selfish.

self-seeking British  

noun

1. the act or an instance of seeking one's own profit or interest, esp exclusively

---

adjective

1. having or showing an exclusive preoccupation with one's own profit or interest

   a self-seeking attitude

Other Word Forms

• self-seeker noun
• self-seekingness noun

Etymology

Origin of self-seeking

First recorded in 1580–90

Compare meaning

How does self-seeking compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• selfish vs. self-seeking

Example Sentences

In this Amazon Prime Video version, Sheen's Prince Andrew is a more complex figure, self-seeking, emotionally deaf, ambitious, loyal to his own immediate family, distrustful of palace officials and with a desperate need for approval.

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2024

The result: Some patients are self-seeking these clinics instead of primary doctors prescribing the medication.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2024

Mishra’s Voltaire is a self-seeking capitalist entrepreneur, because, among other things, he established a watch factory at Ferney—as a refuge and asylum for persecuted Protestants.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 13, 2017

I suspect the play is really an indictment of both generations: the self-seeking individualism of Thatcher's children and their ineffectual offspring, who talk a good ethical game while lacking the capacity for action.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2012

When man has achieved this perfect resignation and all tendency to spiritual self-seeking is dead, the September of the soul is come.

From Ruysbroeck by Underhill, Evelyn