as in selfish
overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests
she's just another self-serving politician who puts her own ambitions above the public good
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Recent Examples of self-serving
His whole agenda was self-serving.
—
Thr Staff, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
Fair enough, but Roxie’s self-serving warning turns out to be prescient when Wes comes home to find Estelle ready to break up with him, bags packed and everything.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Yet Aster casts their motives as unprincipled and self-serving.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025
The potential for self-serving bias and belief bias are evident.
—Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023
For officials in China and Russia, de facto adversaries of the United States, the Iraq War is an easy precedent to put forward to shoot down Washington’s talking points, no matter how self-serving and cynical that may be.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2023
These gentlemen are all capable storytellers, albeit invariably self-serving ones.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2023
However, the kind of misinformed chaos where the responsible industry is given almost carte blanche to hide information and undertake a self-serving response is not the norm across industries.
—Maya Van Rossum, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2023
Although one’s heart naturally goes out to anyone in need, Miss Manners finds her sympathy limited due to your friend’s self-serving misuse of both English and etiquette.
—Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin, oregonlive, 23 Feb. 2023
Thr Staff, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
Fair enough, but Roxie’s self-serving warning turns out to be prescient when Wes comes home to find Estelle ready to break up with him, bags packed and everything.
—Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
Yet Aster casts their motives as unprincipled and self-serving.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025
The potential for self-serving bias and belief bias are evident.
—Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023
For officials in China and Russia, de facto adversaries of the United States, the Iraq War is an easy precedent to put forward to shoot down Washington’s talking points, no matter how self-serving and cynical that may be.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2023
These gentlemen are all capable storytellers, albeit invariably self-serving ones.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2023
However, the kind of misinformed chaos where the responsible industry is given almost carte blanche to hide information and undertake a self-serving response is not the norm across industries.
—Maya Van Rossum, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2023
Although one’s heart naturally goes out to anyone in need, Miss Manners finds her sympathy limited due to your friend’s self-serving misuse of both English and etiquette.
—Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin, oregonlive, 23 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-serving
selfish
Adjective
-
Beneath such moves often lurks a selfish desire to soothe increasing anxiety, unrest, and potentially even boredom.—
Kurt Strovink,
Fortune,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Part of this project was selfish.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Self-serving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-serving. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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