as in egotistical
overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests
a selfish desire to succeed at the expense of others
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of selfish
During the show’s run, Kevin was sometimes considered selfish and immature, especially when compared to some of the gentler members of the Pearson clan.
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Toria Sheffield, People.com, 28 Oct. 2024
Those against say the bar for what constitutes familial trauma has become too low, and that some kids who cut off all contact are being selfish.
—Jeanette Tran, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024
People can be good and bad at the same time, selfish and selfless, depending on circumstances.
—Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
What a selfish request and to keep pestering it for years is so rude.
—Erin Clack, People.com, 19 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for selfish 
Toria Sheffield, People.com, 28 Oct. 2024
Those against say the bar for what constitutes familial trauma has become too low, and that some kids who cut off all contact are being selfish.
—Jeanette Tran, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024
People can be good and bad at the same time, selfish and selfless, depending on circumstances.
—Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
What a selfish request and to keep pestering it for years is so rude.
—Erin Clack, People.com, 19 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for selfish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for selfish
Adjective
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From this noble, if admittedly egotistical goal, come gaslighting, madness, war, self-mutilation, and murder.James Grebey, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2024
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Pharrell Williams’s egotistical fantasy Talent is not always original.Armond White, National Review, 11 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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So begins possibly the most egocentric quest to humble oneself the stage has yet seen.Sara Holdren, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2024
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Some of the men have been described as egocentric, aggressive, and routinely unfaithful.Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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That’s a hard pill to swallow for anyone, much less a slightly narcissistic reality star, and Mia predictably does not take kindly to the implication, ending the episode by running to the bathroom in tears after listing out all the ways her children are thriving.Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2024
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Their narcissistic and pathological tendencies enable them to manipulate and harm others without remorse, leaving psychological harm in their wake.Jason Walker, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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So, how do good leaders operate with confidence without coming across as arrogant or self-centered?Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
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To be clear, sperm donation is, obviously, not an inherently evil or self-centered act.Mark Travers, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Zoey Johnson Zoey, the fashion-forward and occasionally self-absorbed eldest Johnson child.Okla Jones, Essence, 24 Sep. 2024
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But the message is dark, self-absorbed and lacks empathy.Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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The old tourist is essentially the boorish figure from the headlines—solipsistic, oriented toward the self, someone who superimposes their fantasies onto a place and then is outraged when their expectations aren’t met.Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic, 30 June 2024
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Jude’s cynical social perceptions and teasing sympathy toward strivers like Angela and her common-man subjects surpass the efforts of all his clueless filmmaking contemporaries, such as Wes Anderson, who packs whimsy into his Roald Dahl anthology only to create solipsistic distraction.Armond White, National Review, 22 Mar. 2024
Adjective
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A little self-involved, but the check clears either way.Bethy Squires, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2024
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Don’t be too proud to accept help or too self-involved to provide it in return.Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 30 July 2024
Adjective
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The potential for self-serving bias and belief bias are evident.Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023
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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
Thesaurus Entries Near selfish
Cite this Entry
“Selfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/selfish. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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