selfless
adjective
Simple meaning
Showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehlfluhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛlfləs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
Having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself but for others; unselfish.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
Used this way, selfless is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Generous and giving
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.