selfishly
adverb
self·ish·ly
ˈsel-fish-lē 
: in a selfish way
acting/behaving selfishly
… he selfishly hogged attention for his injury …—
Louise Erdrich
Louise ErdrichHe finds support for his intuition from game theory, which says that if everyone in a game acts selfishly, everyone suffers.—Gina Kolata
Gina KolataExamples of selfishly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Studies show that individuals who act selfishly tend to experience less happiness and greater emotional instability.
—Russell P. Reeder, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Before fire could heat homes, cook food and forge tools, legend has it that fire was the preserve of the gods who kept it selfishly to themselves.
—Marko Stokić, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
In the absence of an audit of the defeat (though Martin has promised one), a consensus has emerged that the fault lies entirely with Biden and his clique for having selfishly insisted on running despite his evident senility.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The author of this article selfishly was hoping for some sort of guidance or commentary on the forthcoming sunset of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) on January 1, 2026, knowing darn well that addressing such issue will need the assistance of Congress, but unfortunately there was no such luck.
—Darren T. Case, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
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Russell P. Reeder, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Before fire could heat homes, cook food and forge tools, legend has it that fire was the preserve of the gods who kept it selfishly to themselves.
—Marko Stokić, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
In the absence of an audit of the defeat (though Martin has promised one), a consensus has emerged that the fault lies entirely with Biden and his clique for having selfishly insisted on running despite his evident senility.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The author of this article selfishly was hoping for some sort of guidance or commentary on the forthcoming sunset of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) on January 1, 2026, knowing darn well that addressing such issue will need the assistance of Congress, but unfortunately there was no such luck.
—Darren T. Case, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selfishly
Cite this Entry
“Selfishly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selfishly. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
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