Meanings
comparative more unselfish · superlative most unselfish
- Not selfish.
The man was in an unselfish mood that day, so decided to give a £20 note to the next charity he came across.
1 more example
There was certainly no harm in his travelling sixteen miles twice over on such an errand; but there was an air of foppery and nonsense in it which she could not approve. It did not accord with the rationality of plan, the moderation in expense, or even the unselfish warmth of heart, which she had believed herself to discern in him yesterday.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 114Synonyms: selfless, generous, altruistic
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot selfish.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedisregarding your own advantages and welfare over those of others
adjectivenot greedy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Germanic*un-
- Proto-West Germanic*un-
- Old Englishun-
- Middle Englishun-
- Englishun-
- Englishselfish
- Englishunselfish
Translations
Bulgarian безкористен
- безкористен (bezkoristen)not selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Catalan desinteressat
- desinteressatnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Chinese Mandarin 無私的 /无私的
- 無私的 /无私的 (wúsī)not selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Czech nesobecký
- nesobeckýnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Danish uselvisk
- uselvisknot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Dutch onbaatzuchtig, onzelfzuchtig
- onbaatzuchtignot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- onzelfzuchtignot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Finnish epäitsekäs
- epäitsekäsnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
French généreux
- généreuxnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
German uneigennützig, selbstlos
- uneigennützignot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- selbstlosnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Hungarian önzetlen
- önzetlennot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Italian altruista, altruistico
- altruistanot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- altruisticonot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Japanese 利他的, 献身的
- 利他的 (ritateki)not selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- 献身的 (kenshinteki)not selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Norwegian Bokmål uselvisk
- uselvisknot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Polish bezinteresowny
- bezinteresownynot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Portuguese generoso
- generosonot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Romanian dezinteresat
- dezinteresatnot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Russian бескоры́стный
- бескоры́стный (beskorýstnyj)not selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Spanish altruista, desprendido
- altruistanot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- desprendidonot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- generosonot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Swedish osjälvisk, oegennyttig
- osjälvisknot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- oegennyttignot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
- altruistisknot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Turkish özverili
- özverilinot selfish; selfless; generous; altruistic
Cite this entry
unselfish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unselfish
“unselfish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unselfish. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unselfish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unselfish.
Source: unselfish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.