Self-serving
adj
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Adjective
- 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."
Adjective
- 1 concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others wordnet
Example
More examples"Patriotism in its simple, clear and plain meaning is nothing other to rulers than an instrument for achieving their power-hungry and self-serving goals. To those who are subjected to them, it is a denial of human dignity, reason, and conscience, as well as a slavish submission of themselves to those who are in power."
Etymology
From self- + serving.
Related phrases
More for "self-serving"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.