self-interest
- regard for one's own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others.
- personal interest or advantage.
Origin of self-interest
Related Words for self-interest
selfishness, self-absorption, arrogance, narcissism, self-confidence, egotism, self-possession, self-regard, egomania, presumption, self-love, boasting, overconfidence, vainglory, pride, gasconade, assurance, haughtiness, ostentation, vanityExamples from the Web for self-interest
Contemporary Examples of self-interest
Marrying yourself merely underscores selfishness and self-interest, rather than enabling you to live singly in the best way.
You have to be very angry to be at the point where you no longer have any self-interest.
“Better” means more courageous and more independent, less partisan and less motivated by self-interest.
Is that the ultimate message of House of Cards—that politics is all about self-interest?
Of course, Ford was motivated more by self-interest than by altruism.
Historical Examples of self-interest
Yes, for I know you have never been actuated by self-interest.
The Field of IceJules Verne
If the College is not what it should be, the more his self-interest should prompt him to bestow upon it his aid.
To Plato the whole world appears to be sunk in error, based on self-interest.
GorgiasPlato
He put their self-interest and the interests of their country side by side in front of them.
Herbert HooverVernon Kellogg
It needed but one mind, keener in self-interest than the rest, and that mind was to hand.
The Golden WomanRidgwell Cullum
self-interest
- one's personal interest or advantage
- the act or an instance of pursuing one's own interest
Word Origin and History for self-interest
also self interest, 1640s, from self- + interest (n.). Related: Self-interested.
[Self-interest] is a doctrine not very lofty, but clear and sure. It does not seek to attain great objects; but it attains those it aims for without too much effort. ... [It] does not produce great devotion; but it suggests little sacrifices each day; by itself it cannot make a man virtuous; but it forms a multitude of citizens who are regulated, temperate, moderate, farsighted, masters of themselves; and if it does not lead directly to virtue through the will, it brings them near to it insensibly through habits. [Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America"]