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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary self·ish
\\ˈsel-fish\\ adjective DATE 1640 1. concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others2. arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others
a selfish act3. being an actively replicating repetitive sequence of nucleic acid that serves no known function
selfish DNAalso : being genetic material solely concerned with its own replication
selfish genes
• self·ish·ly adverb
• self·ish·ness noun 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] Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 selfishself·ish / 5selfiF / adjective caring only about yourself rather than about other people 自私的:
selfish behaviour 自私的行为
Do you think I'm being selfish by not letting her go? 你觉得我不让她走是自私吗？
What a selfish thing to do! 这样做,多么自私！
It was selfish of him to leave all the work to you. 他把所有的工作都推给你,真是自私。
OPP unselfish , selfless • self·ish·ly adv.:
She looked forward, a little selfishly, to a weekend away from her family. 她有点自私,就盼着能够离家在外边度个周末。• self·ish·ness noun [U] Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English Oxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishselfish
adj. VERBS be, feel, seem, sound | become ADV. extremely, incredibly, very | entirely, purely, totally, utterly | pretty, quite, rather a pretty selfish attitude | basically People are basically selfish. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged self·ishI. \ pronunc at self I+ish or ēsh\ adjectiveEtymology: self (III) + -ish1.
a. : concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
< if he could be proud and patriotic, so too he could be selfish and mean — Francis Parkman >
< a formal, greedy, selfish old gentleman — L.P.Smith >
< selfish ambition >
b. : self-centered
< the sympathy of children with those who weep is innocently selfish — G.D.Brown >2.
a. : believing or teaching that the chief motives of human action are derived from love of self
< the selfish school of philosophers — William Fleming >
b. : performed to benefit oneself especially in disregard of the welfare of others
< a selfish act >
• self·ish·ly \-ə̇shlē, -li\ adverbII. adjective: being a usually repetitive sequence of nucleic acid that actively replicates within an organism but is not expressed phenotypically and serves no known function < selfish DNA >
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