SELF-SERVING Synonyms: 64 Similar and Opposite Words

self-serving

adjective

ˌself-ˈsər-viŋ

Definition of self-serving

as in selfish

overly concerned with one's own desires, needs, or interests she's just another self-serving politician who puts her own ambitions above the public good

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of self-serving Learning that countless more people will lose their lives on account of his neglect, greed, and stupidity, he is pressed, reluctantly, into a most self-serving mode of damage control. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026 Dozens of people have accused Combs of playing games with their lives, sometimes for self-serving business reasons, other times for his own amusement. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026 Who’s dismantling institutional conventions faster than those towers fell — and replacing them with his largely self-serving own. — Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026 While Amodei's manifesto was self-serving , these weekend headlines are nevertheless reverberating in Monday's market. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for self-serving

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-serving

selfish

Adjective

Also on Weekend Update, James Austin Johnson portrayed a selfish Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank investor who is backing a massive data center campus in northwest Utah.

— William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2026
That’s also how Violet is thinking about their portrayal of Maureen, whose eccentric performance art and selfish behavior often give the character a bad rap.

— Ellise Shafer, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of selfish

Browse Nearby Words

self-seeking

self-serving

self-slaughter

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“Self-serving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-serving. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of self-serving

adjective

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