as in selfish
overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests
a staggeringly self-interested careerist who is eminently indifferent to anything that does not affect his personal well-being
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Recent Examples of self-interested
Goods and services are traded for the self-interested betterment of all parties involved.
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The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 28 Nov. 2025
These powers weren’t grabbed so much as they were pushed onto the court by a political system too polarized – and in some cases too self-interested – to act.
—Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
Public approval of Congress is near historic lows, and polling shows that many voters believe professional politicians are self-interested and out of touch.
—Jeff Harden, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-interested
selfish
Adjective
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Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.—
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Even though a lot of what happens in the book borders on the ridiculous because of the behavior of narcissistic selfish venal individuals.—
Cite this Entry
“Self-interested.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-interested. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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