noun

selfishness

selfishness

His selfishness hurt his friends.

His selfishness hurt his friends.

Selfishness is not a good quality.

Selfishness is not a good quality.

((sb.'s)) selfishness someone's quality of being selfish His selfishness is unbelievable.

Synonyms: egoism, self-centredness; Antonyms: altruism, selflessness

From 'selfish' + the suffix '-ness', which forms nouns indicating a state or quality. 'Selfish' itself is from 'self' + '-ish'.

Think of someone who is 'ish' (like) their 'self'. The '-ness' turns this quality into a noun. It's the state of being all about your 'self'.

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