Dictionary

self-serving en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English serving English self-serving From self- + serving.

Meanings

1. Showing interest only in oneself (pursuing self-interest to the exclusion of other goals).
   • "Most of the time when people consider the question of what rules society should have for using software, the people considering it are from software companies, and they consider the question from a self-serving perspective," says Stallman, opening his speech. 2002, Sam Williams, Free as in Freedom:
   • While the PSOE’s leader and caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, argues that the act of clemency would help promote coexistence after the tumultuous political and territorial crisis of 2017, his opponents have decried the move as a cynical and self-serving means of remaining in power. 2023 November 12, Sam Jones, “Fresh protests held across Spain over amnesty deal for Catalan separatists”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2023:
   • For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'. 2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3:
   • Don’t assume that the connotations of authority, history, scholarship, hallowed tradition and judiciousness in the word “Academy” actually fit this self-serving club. 2016 March 3, David Thomson, “Biggest lesson of the 2016 Oscars? The Academy should be scrapped”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2017:

Forms

Deriveds

self-servingness · self-servingly

Relateds

selfish

Synonyms

self-centered · self-minded · egocentric · idiocentric · individualistic · self-serving · reptilian · porkish · selflike · self-centered · self-interested · egocentric · solipsistic · selfsome · self-interested · interested · self-absorbed · selfish · self-seeking · every man for himself · egoistical

Translations (13)

fi itsekäs (showing interest only in oneself) · fr intéressé (showing interest only in oneself) · he תועלתן (showing interest only in oneself) · ru корыстный (showing interest only in oneself) · de selbstsüchtig (showing interest only in oneself) · de egoistisch (showing interest only in oneself) · de eigennützig (showing interest only in oneself) · it autoreferenziale (showing interest only in oneself) · fi omaa etuaan ajava (showing interest only in oneself) · pt interesseiro (showing interest only in oneself) · pl wyrachowany (showing interest only in oneself) · sv egennyttig (showing interest only in oneself) · he אינטרסנט (showing interest only in oneself)