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selfish

 - 4 dictionary results

self⋅ish

  [sel-fish]
Use selfish in a Sentence
–adjective
1. devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
2. characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself: selfish motives.
Origin:
1630–40; self + -ish 1

Related forms:
self⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
self⋅ish⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. self-interested, self-seeking, egoistic; illiberal, parsimonious, stingy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To selfish
self·ish   (sěl'fĭsh)   
adj.  

  1. Concerned chiefly or only with oneself: "Selfish men were . . . trying to make capital for themselves out of the sacred cause of human rights" (Maria Weston Chapman).

  2. Arising from, characterized by, or showing selfishness: a selfish whim.

self'ish·ly adv., self'ish·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

selfish 
1640, from self (q.v.). Said in Hacket's life of Archbishop Williams (1693) to have been coined by Presbyterians. In the 17c., synonyms included self-seeking (1628), self-ended and self-ful.
"Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs." [Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene," 1976]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: self·ish
Pronunciation: 'sel-fish
Function: adjective
: being a usually repetitive sequence of nucleic acid that actively replicateswithin an organism but is not expressed phenotypically and serves no known function <selfish DNA>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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