Meanings
adjectiveselfless (comparative more selfless, superlative most selfless)
comparative more selfless · superlative most selfless
- Having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself but for others; unselfish.
In a selfless act of gratitude for saving his mother's life, Peter committed to giving money to his local breast cancer charity each year for the rest of his life.
1 more example
Because a certain degree of selfless behavior is essential to the smooth performance of any human group, selflessness run amok can crop up in political contexts.
2011 March 10, Natalie Angier, “The Pathological Altruist Gives Till Someone Hurts”, in The New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveshowing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*swé?
- Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*selbaz
- Old Englishself
- Middle Englishself
- Englishself
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishselfless
Translations
Arabic غَيْرِيّ, إِيثَارِيّ
- غَيْرِيّ (ḡayriyy)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- إِيثَارِيّ (ʔīṯāriyy)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Bulgarian самоотве́ржен, безкори́стен
- самоотве́ржен (samootvéržen)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- безкори́стен (bezkorísten)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- себеотрицателен (sebeotricatelen)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Chinese Mandarin 無私 /无私, 公而忘私
- 無私 /无私 (wúsī)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- 公而忘私 (gōng'érwàngsī)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- 忘我的 (wàngwǒ de)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Czech obětavý, nesobecký
- obětavýhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- nesobeckýhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Esperanto egoisma
- egoismahaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Finnish epäitsekäs, pyyteetön
- epäitsekäshaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- pyyteetönhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
French dévoué, altruiste
- dévouéhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- altruistehaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
German selbstlos, uneigennützig
- selbstloshaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- uneigennützighaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Greek ανιδιοτελής, αφίλαυτος
- ανιδιοτελής (anidiotelís)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- αφίλαυτος (afílaftos)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- φιλάλληλος (filállilos)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- αλτρουιστής (altrouistís)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Hungarian önzetlen
- önzetlenhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Italian altruista, altruistico
- altruistahaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- altruisticohaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- disinteressatohaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Japanese 無私無欲の
- 無私無欲の (mushimuyoku no)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Korean 이타적, 리타적
- 이타적 (itajeok)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- 리타적 (ritajeok)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- 사심 없는 (sasim eomneun)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Polish ofiarny, bezinteresowny
- ofiarnyhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- bezinteresownyhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Portuguese altruísta, desinteressado
- altruístahaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- desinteressadohaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Romanian dezinteresat
- dezinteresathaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Russian самоотве́рженный, бескоры́стный
- самоотве́рженный (samootvéržennyj)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- бескоры́стный (beskorýstnyj)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Slovak obetavý, nesebecký
- obetavýhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- nesebeckýhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Spanish desinteresado, abnegado
- desinteresadohaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- abnegadohaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- altruistahaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Swedish osjälvisk
- osjälviskhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Tamil தன்னலமற்ற
- தன்னலமற்ற (taṉṉalamaṟṟa)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Turkish fedakâr, özgecil
- fedakârhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- özgecilhaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- özverilihaving, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Ukrainian самові́дданий, безкори́сливий
- самові́дданий (samovíddanyj)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- безкори́сливий (bezkorýslyvyj)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
- некори́сливий (nekorýslyvyj)having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish
Cite this entry
APA
selfless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfless
MLA
“selfless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “selfless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfless.
Source: selfless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.