selfishness
Syllables: self·ish·ness/ˈsɛl.fɪʃ.nəs/
selfishness noun: the quality of being selfish, the condition of putting one's own interests before those of others.
Noun
selfishness (countable and uncountable, plural selfishnesses)
- The quality of being selfish, the condition of putting one's own interests before those of others.
- This common faith or set of aspirations, he added, could also help Americans transcend their selfishnesses and follies and promote a world civil religion given to justice and hope.1988 March 5, Martin E. Marty, “FRONT-PAGE RELIGION”, in The New York Times
- And he knows that Patrick can afford to complain about his mother’s minor selfishness but he cannot afford to engage with the idea of his own father at all.2014 February 17, Dan Callahan, “Looking Recap: Versatility”, in Vulture
- Synonyms:
- egocentricity, me-firstism, self-centeredness, egoism, egomism, hoggery, interestedness, philauty, porkishness, selfhood
- Antonyms:
- selflessness
selfishness meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
selfishness in Hindi
- selfishness, egotism, conceit
- हमाहमी hamāhamī
- selfishness
- स्वार्थ svārth
selfishness in Tamil
- quality of being selfish
- தன்னலம் taṉṉalam, சுயநலம் cuyanalam
selfishness in Marathi
- selfishness
- स्वार्थ svārtha
selfishness in Urdu
- selfishness
- ہماہمی hamāhamī
More languagesFewer languages
- selfishness in Bengali
- স্বার্থপরতা śarthoprota
- selfishness in Malayalam
- സ്വാർത്ഥത svāṟtthata
- selfishness in Kannada
- ತನ್ಮೆ, ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥ, ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥತೆ, ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥಪರತೆ
- selfishness in Punjabi
- ਗ਼ਰਜ਼ ġaraz
- selfishness in Sanskrit
- स्वार्थ svārtha
- selfishness in Arabic
- أَنَانِيَّة ʔanāniyya
Examples of selfishness in a sentence
- His actions impress a message of selfishness to us all.
- Selfishness has different variations, but in the end it is all the same.
- "Wallace's suggestion for overcoming the epistemological and solipsistic effects of innate selfishness is twofold."
Synonyms of selfishness
- egocentricity
- me-firstism
- self-centeredness
- egoism
- hoggery
- interestedness
- porkishness
- selfhood
- self-absorption
- self-interestedness
6 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of selfishness
| plural | selfishnesses |
|---|
Origin of selfishness
From selfish + -ness.
Words formed from selfishness
Questions about selfishness
- What does selfishness mean?
- Selfishness means the quality of being selfish, the condition of putting one's own interests before those of others.
- What is selfishness in Hindi?
- Selfishness in Hindi is हमाहमी (hamāhamī), स्वार्थ (svārth). See Selfishness meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is selfishness?
- Selfishness is a noun.
- How do you pronounce selfishness?
- Selfishness is pronounced /ˈsɛl.fɪʃ.nəs/.
- What is the plural of selfishness?
- The plural of selfishness is selfishnesses.
Words near selfishness in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: selfishness (page history and authors); स्वार्थ (Hindi) (page history and authors); स्वार्थ (Marathi) (page history and authors); ہماہمی (Urdu) (page history and authors); selfishness (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਗ਼ਰਜ਼ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); स्वार्थ (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “selfishness.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/selfishness. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.