noun
- regard for one’s own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others.
- personal interest or advantage.
noun
- one’s personal interest or advantage
- the act or an instance of pursuing one’s own interest
n.also self interest, 1640s, from self- + interest (n.). Related: Self-interested. [Self-interest] is a doctrine not very lofty, but clear and sure. It does not seek to attain great objects; but it attains those it aims for without too much effort. … [It] does not produce great devotion; but it suggests little sacrifices each day; by itself it cannot make a man virtuous; but it forms a multitude of citizens who are regulated, temperate, moderate, farsighted, masters of themselves; and if it does not lead directly to virtue through the will, it brings them near to it insensibly through habits. [Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America”]