selfish

«selfish» in Mova's school dictionary: A selfish person thinks mostly about themselves and what… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (selfish; more selfish, most selfish)

meaning for a pupil

1) A selfish person thinks mostly about themselves and what they want, and does not care enough about other people. tree →

2) A selfish act is one done only for your own good, at others' expense. tree →

sense in the lessons

In ethics, PSHE and stories, selfishness is shown as wrong: the selfish giant who would not share his garden, the child who will not share sweets. Pupils learn that sharing and taking turns are the opposite. Phrases: «selfish behaviour», «a selfish giant», «don't be selfish».

examples

• It's selfish to eat all the sweets yourself. tree →
• The Selfish Giant would not let the children play in his garden. tree →
• He was too selfish to share his toys. tree →
• Taking the last seat when Grandma was standing was selfish. tree →
• Being selfish can lose you friends. tree →
• She realised she had been selfish and said sorry. tree →
• He was a very selfish Giant. tree →

note

Comparison: more selfish, most selfish. Noun «selfishness», adverb «selfishly». Opposite: «selfless», «unselfish», «generous». Trap: taking care of yourself (rest, saying no to danger) is not the same as being selfish.

In the corpora

• Just a pig—a plain pig!» (Here «pig» means a selfish, thoughtless person.)

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «selfish» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.