selfish
/ˈsɛl.fɪʃ/adjective
selfish is spelled S-E-L-F-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, selfish means “Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in selfish?
| Letters | 7: S-E-L-F-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is selfish?
Selfish appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce selfish?
- /ˈsɛl.fɪʃ/
- [ˈsɛɫ̥fɪʃ]
Selfish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-selfish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with selfish?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as selfish.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hisself.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of selfish
- more selfish comparative
- selfisher comparative
- most selfish superlative
- selfishest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does selfish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.
- 2
Having excessive or exclusive regard and concern for one's own well-being, profit or pleasure, with little or no consideration for others.
- 3
Of video game characters: relying on their own actions and capabilities to be effective in the game, rather than on other characters.
- 4
Related to or equivalent to a selfish gene; best understood as existing to preserve and replicate itself in competition with other entities at the same level of existence, rather than at the level of the individual or population containing it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Selfish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense holding one's self-interest as the standard for decision making:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | égoïste |
| German | egoistisch, selbstsüchtig, egozentrisch |
| Portuguese | egoísta |
| Spanish | egoísta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does selfish come from?
From self + -ish. Compare Danish selvisk (“selfish”), Swedish självisk (“selfish”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).