as in egocentric
overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests
a selfish desire to succeed at the expense of others
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of selfish
Stellan Skarsgård plays an aging filmmaker whose selfish past led to an estrangement from his daughters and who wants to make a movie inspired by their mom.
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
The moment causes Byron, a selfish and braggadocious villain, to have a change of heart, stopping shipments of The Beauty and paying off the families ravaged by its gruesome side effects, like Bella’s.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
My actions were selfish; my actions were terrible.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
To date, there seems to be no price Democrats are unwilling to pay to further their selfish partisan ambitions, the American and Iranian people be damned.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for selfish
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
The moment causes Byron, a selfish and braggadocious villain, to have a change of heart, stopping shipments of The Beauty and paying off the families ravaged by its gruesome side effects, like Bella’s.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
My actions were selfish; my actions were terrible.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
To date, there seems to be no price Democrats are unwilling to pay to further their selfish partisan ambitions, the American and Iranian people be damned.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for selfish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for selfish
Adjective
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A lot of tennis players are so egocentric.—
Patrick McEnroe,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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But research on egocentric bias shows that leaders vastly overestimate how much audiences care about the company's journey.—
Harrison Monarth,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But overall, the global findings jibe with other research that has demonstrated that young people today have been showing many positive trends, including a tendency to be more empathetic, less narcissistic, more inclusive and even more patient than past generations.—
Claire Cameron,
Scientific American,
19 Mar. 2026
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Trump’s narcissistic obsession with the place, together with the miasmic hatefulness of his words and actions, has caused artists to flee en masse.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Travel ball is very self-centered.—
Eric Sondheimer
Columnist
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2026
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Most of them are self-centered, thinking only of themselves.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident.—
Leigh Blickley,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Mar. 2026
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The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Three hundred high school players gather at a remote facility to compete in ruthless trials where only one will emerge as the world’s greatest and most egoistic striker.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Yet political polls repeatedly reveal how many citizens--across race, age, gender, and background--still vote from a self-interested posture.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
23 Mar. 2026
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What the files do seem to confirm, though, is the conspiracy theorist’s view of an elite stratosphere, where normal rules don’t apply, everyone knows each other, and ideological differences are subsumed to self-interested motives.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The social enrichment, the egotistical component?—
The Editors,
Robb Report,
14 Mar. 2026
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Please don’t take this in an egotistical way.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The nation is captive to his egomaniacal whims.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
24 Feb. 2026
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Krakowski was immediately mad for the part of the egomaniacal actress Jenna Maroney.—
Keaton Bell,
Vogue,
2 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Selfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/selfish. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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