self-interest

From self- +‎ interest.

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self-interest (countable and uncountable, plural self-interests)

1. One's personal interest or advantage, especially when pursued without regard for others.

   Hypernym: interest

   Coordinate terms: public interest (sometimes antonymous, but often not), enlightened self-interest

   I cannot abandon my husband for the sake of self-interest and personal gain.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 99:

     And so he reasoned until the first generous impulse to proclaim the truth and relinquish his titles and his estates to their rightful owner was forgotten beneath the mass of sophistries which self-interest had advanced.

   • 2022 July 27, Charles Hugh Smith, There Won't Be Any Winners Because The Status Quo Is Corrupt Everywhere‎^[1]:

     Corruption becomes fatal when those in power are no longer able to distinguish the difference between self-interest and the national interest.

   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 52:

     Government standards of decency and honesty were quite low, and decision-makers were tainted with self-interest and corruption at the very highest level.

• self-interested
• self-interestedness