Definition of selfish
1 : concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
2 : arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others a selfish act
3 : being an actively replicating repetitive sequence of nucleic acid that serves no known function selfish DNA; also : being genetic material solely concerned with its own replication selfish genes
selfishly
adverbselfishness
nounExplore Merriam-Webster
Examples of selfish in a Sentence
She's interested only in her own selfish concerns.
I wish he'd spend less time with his friends and more time with me. Am I being selfish?
Recent Examples of selfish from the Web
-
My (admittedly shallow and selfish) fantasy includes buying a private island and never having to deal with people again.
-
Will had a lot of good intentions accompanied with his selfish hunger for power.
-
The arguments cut to the morality of her position: Charter is stealing from our students; Charter is selfish.
-
That's selfish baseball, and Buster Posey is under no obligation to defend that kind of behavior.
-
Not just my selfish reasons, from a basketball standpoint.
-
Still, your friend’s knee-jerk refusal to bless the date, after having seen this fellow for just a few months, seems selfish.
-
Genes are supposed to be selfish, not self-sacrificing.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'selfish'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of selfish
1640
SELFISH Defined for English Language Learners
selfish
playDefinition of selfish for English Language Learners
-
: having or showing concern only for yourself and not for the needs or feelings of other people
SELFISH Defined for Kids
selfish
playDefinition of selfish for Students
: taking care of only your own needs and feelings without thought for others
selfishly
adverbselfishness
nounMedical Dictionary
selfish
playMedical Definition of selfish
: being an actively replicating repetitive sequence of nucleic acid that serves no known function selfish DNA; also : being genetic material solely concerned with its own replication selfish genes
Learn More about selfish
-
See words that rhyme with selfish Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for selfish Spanish Central: Translation of selfish Nglish: Translation of selfish for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of selfish for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up selfish? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!