selfish
adj/ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/ · [ˈsɛɫ̥fɪʃ]
Etymology From self + -ish. Compare Danish selvisk (“selfish”), Swedish självisk (“selfish”).
1
Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.
- “We all have both a selfish separate self, and an Inner Being that is One with the Universal Spirit. In this sense, every human has a sort of ‘split personality’. We are all kind of what you call ‘schitzy’ with these two sides, these two people living within us. And they are in total opposition. The free will dictates which of these two sides will have its way in our life, at every given moment.”1997, John Peniel, chapter 10, in The Children Of The Law Of One & The Lost Teachings Of Atlantis, page 127:
2
Having excessive or exclusive regard and concern for one's own well-being, profit or pleasure, with little or no consideration for others.
- Take warning by my fate, and shun that flowery and bewitching path; for in its labyrinths the good, the gentle, the kind-hearted, and the benevolent, are too often lost; while the sordid and the selfish scarcely so much as run a hazard.1823, James Hogg, “Peril First. Love. Circle Third.”, in The Three Perils of Woman; or, Love, Leasing, and Jealousy. […], volume I, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, […], →OCLC, page 277:
- The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?1921, Ben Travers, chapter V, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
1 more example
- "Our CEQA process is clearly broken when a few wealthy Berkeley homeowners can block desperately needed student housing for years and even decades," Newsom's office said in a statement. "California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student and affordable housing. This selfish mindset is driving up housing prices, and making our state less affordable."2023 March 1, Aaron Kliegman, “Newsom declares war on environmentalists seeking to halt construction project”, in Fox News, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2023:
3
Video games Of video game characters: relying on their own actions and capabilities to be effective in the game, rather than on other characters.
- With that said, there is a perk to Xiao being a selfish DPS. He plays like Razor where he needs to be out in the field more than 90 percent of the time. Compared to Diluc, Xiao is more independent when it comes to dealing damage.2021 February 23, Sid Natividad, “Genshin Impact: 5 Ways Xiao Is The Best DPS (And 5 Ways It's Still Diluc)”, in TheGamer, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2024:
4
Biology, Natural sciences Related to or equivalent to a selfish gene; best understood as existing to preserve and replicate itself in competition with other entities at the same level of existence, rather than at the level of the individual or population containing it.
- Discoveries of selfish genetic elements often follow from the emergence of a selfish phenotype either in a cross between members of closely related species, or in crosses involving individuals from different isolated populations within a species.2005, N.S. Sharma, Molecular Structure Of Genes And Chromosomes, Mittal Publications, →ISBN, page 215:
- Through this hypothesized mechanism, a selfish virus would reduce the probability that other co-infecting genotypes contribute the expected share of their genes to the progeny.2005 August 4, Robert Desharnais, Population Dynamics and Laboratory Ecology, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 321:
1 more example
- The "selfish meme" concept does not, of course, ascribe any consciousness or motivation to the meme; it simply means we can understand better by looking at evolution from the meme's point of view.2011 February 15, Richard Brodie, Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme, Hay House, Inc, →ISBN, page 68:
- Synonyms
- egocentric, egoistical, every man for himself, idiocentric, individualistic, interested, porkish, reptilian, selfish, selflike, selfsome, self-absorbed, self-centered, self-interested, self-minded, self-seeking, self-serving, solipsistic
- Antonyms
- self-abnegatory
- Derived terms
- hyperselfish, overselfish, selfish DNA, selfish gene, selfishly, selfishness, superselfish, ultraselfish, unselfishly
- Related terms
- self-serving, selfishness
- Hypernyms
- egotistical, egotistic, full of oneself, excessive, immoral
- Hyponyms
- stingy, brattish, bratty, spoiled, spoiled rotten, hyperselfish, overselfish, superselfish, ultraselfish
- Coordinate terms
- greedy, hedonistic