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Pride and selfishness



    pride.  1. An undue sense of one's own superiority; inordinate 
      self-esteem; arrogance; conceit  2. A proper sense of 
      personal dignity and worth; honorable self-respect 

    egoism.  1. Inordinate concern for one's own welfare and 
      interests; selfishness.  2. self-conceit; egotism.  3. In 
      ethics, the doctrine that all individual conduct is rightly 
      motivated by self-interest. 

    egotism.  1. Excessive reference to oneself in speech or 
      writing; self-conceit; boastfulness.  2. Selfishness; 
      egoism. 

    selfish.  1. Caring chiefly for oneself or one's own interests 
      or comfort, especially to the point of disregarding the 
      welfare or wishes of others.  2. Proceeding from or 
      characterized by undue love of self. 

    vanity.  1. The condition or characteristic of being vain; 
      excessive personal pride; conceit.  2. Ambitious display; 
      ostentation; show. 

    vain.  1. Filled with or showing undue admiration for oneself, 
      one's appearance, etc.; proud; conceited.  2. Unproductive; 
      worthless; fruitless; useless.  3. Ostentatious; showy. 

    conceit.  A high opinion of one's own person or 
      accomplishments; overweening self-esteem. 

    self-conceit.  An unduly high opinion of oneself or one's 
      abilities, acquirements, etc.; vanity. 

    arrogant.  Unduly or excessively proud; overbearing; haughty. 

    overbearing.  Arrogant; domineering; dictatorial. 

    haughty.  Exhibiting great satisfaction with oneself and 
      disdain for others; arrogant; supercilious. 

    supercilious.  Exhibiting haughty contempt or indifference; 
      arrogant. 

    presumptuous.  Unduly confident or bold; audacious; arrogant. 


    Egotism, egoism, selfishness, conceit, vanity and self-esteem 
      refer to preoccupation with oneself. Egotism and egoism are 
      sometimes interchanged because of similarity in form and in 
      area of meaning.  Ordinarily, egotism is reserved for the 
      braggart's inflated state of vanity and self-importance. 
      Egoism, a less common word, insists upon self-interest as a 
      valid motive in all personal conduct. Thus a man sworn to 
      egoism may not be stamped by the boastfulness that attends 
      egotism. Selfishness is the putting of egoism into action, 
      by showing little regard for the rights or feelings of 
      others. Conceit is overestimation of one's abilities, 
      qualities or worth, while vanity is undue pride in one's 
      possessions or attributes. Self-esteem is justifiable pride, 
      and may suggest a reasonable concept of the self; more 
      frequently, however, it is applied to exaggerated pride just 
      short of conceit or vanity.    


    Arrogant, haughty, insolent, disdainful, supercilious and 
      presumptuous mean unduly proud of one's own station or 
      achievements and scornful of others.  The arrogant person is 
      domineering and assumes more power or authority than are 
      rightly his.  The haughty man is unduly proud of his high 
      station and treats others as inferior; the insolent man 
      holds the rights and feelings of others in contempt and is 
      rude and boorish.  One who is disdainful is quick to show 
      scornful dislike, and supercilious describes a man who is 
      both haughty and disdainful, though sometimes masking his 
      feelings under formal politeness.  Presumptuous is a close 
      synonym of arrogant, with an added note of insolence or 
      impertinence. 

                                    Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary




    egotism, egoism, self-centeredness, selfishness, vanity, self-
      importance, self-love, pride, conceit, self-worship, arrogance, 
      boastfulness, vainglory, ostentation, pretentiousness 

                                   
                                             Roget's Thesaurus



   July 1998




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