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
In the real world, leaders can selfishly abuse their authority or simply fail to deliver collective benefits.
—Thomas Morgan, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
You’re focused on yourself selfishly.
—Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 2 Feb. 2026
And selfishly, getting to be the badass final girl, covered in blood and kicking ass, is a dream role.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
Rather than fostering respect and learning from one another, Republican leaders selfishly inflame age-old divisions, then bend a real problem to hammer universities.
—James Druckman, Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for selfishly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Thomas Morgan, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
You’re focused on yourself selfishly.
—Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 2 Feb. 2026
And selfishly, getting to be the badass final girl, covered in blood and kicking ass, is a dream role.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
Rather than fostering respect and learning from one another, Republican leaders selfishly inflame age-old divisions, then bend a real problem to hammer universities.
—James Druckman, Mercury News, 17 Oct. 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 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
