Meaning & use
selfless act
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A single action done to help others without thinking about your own benefit.
Grammar: Countable: a selfless act, selfless acts. Often used with 'of': a selfless act of kindness.
Patterns
- a selfless act
- an act of selflessness
- a selfless act of kindness
Giving up her seat to the injured passenger was a small but genuine selfless act.
The firefighter's selfless act saved two children from the burning house.
Volunteering every weekend is a selfless act that costs him time but gives him joy.
Word forms
| plural | selfless acts |
|---|
Common combinations
- a selfless act of kindness
- Paying for a stranger's groceries was a selfless act of kindness.
- a truly selfless act
- Donating anonymously is often seen as a truly selfless act.
- perform a selfless act
- He performed a selfless act by staying late to help a colleague finish the report.
- a small selfless act
- A small selfless act, like holding the door, can brighten someone's day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- good deed
- A good deed is any helpful action; a selfless act emphasizes that the person expected nothing in return.
- altruistic act
- Altruistic act is more formal and technical, used in psychology and philosophy.
Opposites
Word family
- selfless adjective
- Caring more about others than about yourself.
- selflessness noun
- The quality of caring about others more than yourself.
- selflessly adverb
- In a way that shows you care about others more than yourself.
Commonly confused: selfless act or selfish act?
selfless act vs selfish act
Selfish act is the opposite: an action done for your own benefit, often at others' expense.
Practice
Running into the street to rescue a stranger's dog was a ______ act.
Choose one answer.
Selfless fits because the action helped someone else without thought of reward. 'Selfish' is the opposite, 'selfless acts' is plural and does not fit 'a', and 'selflessness' is a noun, not an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “selfless act”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.