How to Use self-interest in a Sentence

self-interest

noun
  • And that seems to almost run counter to one’s own self-interest.
    — Sean Illing, Vox, 7 July 2024
  • Is there perhaps some self-interest at play here?
    — Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Gi-hun sees it as a curse — a reminder of all the lives lost out of greed and self-interest.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Women both lead and cast their votes in a way that's bigger than their own self-interest.
    — Marianne Schnall, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
  • With so many voting for self-interest, there’s no reason to think any of this will change.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 July 2025
  • Our own agenda, our own feelings, our own pride, our own self-interest.
    — Jayson Jenks, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Call it enlightened self-interest wrapped in black and gold.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Lost in all of the self-interest is the only thing that horse racing has going for it.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Scarcity is the rule, and requires a degree of self-interest.
    — Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
  • So there is a certain self-interest in businesses stepping in to fill the gap.
    — Roger Trapp, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024
  • But more enlightened self-interest won out.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Or why people do things that go against their self-interest and are susceptible to the lure of a cult.
    — Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 16 Jan. 2025
  • Characters make choices that go against their own self-interest.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 22 July 2026
  • None of them matter, not to a president who has taken self-interest to new heights.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Because the group of women who still vote against their own self-interest are white married women.
    — Taylor Ardrey, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • How corporations, in self-interest and self-greed, are bending at the knee to please our rulers?
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Yet people do worry openly when the war affects their self-interests.
    — Peter Pomerantsev, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2024
  • Fiction is able to explore the seams of self-interest and conflict that run across men’s social worlds with a freer hand.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • The goal was to take self-interest out of the redistricting process and return it to the people.
    — Suzette Valladares, Oc Register, 31 Aug. 2025
  • But some critics will make arguments purely out of self-interest.
    — Jem Aswad, Variety, 6 Nov. 2023
  • His self-interest and careerism are clear even in a place where self-interest and careerism are the order of the day.
    — Aja Romano, Vox, 17 July 2024
  • Doubters accuse its champions of self-interest or even self-delusion.
    — Max Bearak Giacomo D’orlando, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2023
  • Rather than appeal to France’s self-interest, Franklin aimed higher.
    — Eric Weiner, TIME, 11 June 2024
  • Our self-interest has usually been of the sensible sort.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 May 2026
  • This is a person who's looking out purely for their own self-interest, self-preservation.
    — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Generosity is a virtue, but maintain a healthy self-interest.
    — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 28 June 2025
  • Yet Smith never treated short-term self-interest as the sole or overriding goal.
    — Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • If only one of you cares for the other, then the one who chooses self-interest gets it all as the generous one loses out.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 16 June 2023
  • Our senators represent all of us and not just their own self-interest and ambitions.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 9 July 2026
  • Move to even-year elections or be remembered as the council that chose self-interest over democracy.
    — Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 4 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-interest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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