Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One devoted to one's own interests and advancement; an egocentric person.
  • noun An egotist.
  • noun An adherent of egoism.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who is characterized by egoism; a selfish or self-centered person.
  • noun In metaphysics, one holding the doctrine of egoism.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One given overmuch to egoism or thoughts of self.
  • noun (Philos.) A believer in egoism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an advocate of egoism.
  • noun an egocentric or self-centered person.
  • noun An egotist.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a self-centered person with little regard for others
  • noun a conceited and self-centered person

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

ego +‎ -ist

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Examples

  • For the psychological egoist, that is not even a possibility.

    The History of Utilitarianism Driver, Julia 2009

  • Stirner is occasionally portrayed as a psychological egoist, that is, as a proponent of the descriptive claim that all (intentional) actions are motivated by a concern for the self-interest of the agent.

    Max Stirner Leopold, David 2006

  • Kant1 is not saying enough when he says that the egoist is a person who always tries to push his own I forward and to make it the chief object of his own and of everybody else's attention.

    Criminal Psychology: a manual for judges, practitioners, and students 1911

  • At this the individual ranks as the unholy (barbarian, natural man, "egoist") over against the State, exactly as he was once regarded by the Church; before the individual the State takes on the nimbus of a saint.

    Coercion, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • Ragnar Redbeard, on the other hand, is another kind of egoist entirely, a Fascist, misogynistic, and sacrilegious bore who desires to impress that he Knows All, and anyone daring to disagree with his interpretation of Man is but mere dirt beneath his steel-toed boots.

    Essays 2007

  • Then you all listened to the very corporate plutocracy tell you that Nader was an "egoist" and that everything was his fault.

    The Obama-Clinton Cabinet? We Voted for CHANGE, Not Recycling 2008

  • For the kind of egoist I mean is a madman in a much more plausible sense than the mere harmless "deficient"; and to hand on the horrors of his anarchic and insatiable temperament is a much graver responsibility than to leave a mere inheritance of childishness.

    Eugenics and Other Evils 1905

  • In the same way as we might say of an all-consuming egoist that he or she suffers from a weak ego, we could say of the aggressive in-your-face identity that it suffers from a threatened identity.

    Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011

  • I realize the problem lies with the egoist, but in my life I have been successful at many different things and in my "older" years I no longer have any tolerance to put up with any crap from anyone, regardless how BIG their ego is and how belittling they must be to others in order to salvage their fragile sense of self.

    Page 2 2009

  • I realize the problem lies with the egoist, but in my life I have been successful at many different things and in my "older" years I no longer have any tolerance to put up with any crap from anyone, regardless how BIG their ego is and how belittling they must be to others in order to salvage their fragile sense of self.

    Page 2 2009

Comments

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  • What is not supposed to be my concern! First and foremost, the Good Cause, then God's cause, the cause of mankind, of truth, of freedom, of humanity, of justice; further, the cause of my people, my prince, my fatherland; finally, even the cause of Mind, and a thousand other causes. Only my cause is never to be my concern. "Shame on the egoist who thinks only of himself!"

    March 17, 2009