altruism

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Unselfish concern for other people, shown by helping them without expecting anything back.

   Grammar: Used without an article: acts of altruism.

   Patterns

   • altruism toward someone
   • an act of altruism

   Her altruism showed when she gave her lunch to a stranger.

   The donor's altruism saved several lives.

   True altruism means helping without wanting praise.

2. 2noununcountablebiology

   In biology, behavior by an animal that helps others of its kind at some cost or risk to itself.

   Grammar: Technical sense: animal altruism.

   Patterns

   • altruism in animals

   Alarm calls in meerkats are a form of altruism.

   Scientists debate how altruism evolved in social animals.

   Bats sharing food is a striking case of altruism.

Common combinations

act of altruism

Giving a kidney to a stranger is an act of altruism.

pure altruism

Is pure altruism possible?

selfless altruism

The nurses showed selfless altruism.

motivated by altruism

His donations were motivated by altruism.

effective altruism

Effective altruism tries to use evidence to do the most good.

Synonyms and how they differ

selflessness

Emphasizes not thinking of yourself, while altruism emphasizes caring about others.

generosity

Usually about giving money or time, and may not involve self-sacrifice.

philanthropy

Means giving large sums to good causes, which is narrower and more organized than altruism.

benevolence

Describes a kindly wish to do good, but not necessarily at a cost to yourself.

Opposites

Word family

altruist noun

a person who acts for the good of others

altruistic adjective

unselfishly caring about others

altruistically adverb

in an unselfish way

Commonly confused: altruism or alturism?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “altruism”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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