self-gratification
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Crucially, these collected lyrics aren’t an exercise in self-gratification; Sondheim is insightful and unsparing about his own mistakes, even the ones that only he is smart enough to see.
From Slate • Nov. 18, 2019
It will examine the pathology of power in the service of self-gratification and self-protection — from the law and from accountability.
From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2019
“There’s a lot of self-gratification in helping people. I can’t believe people send us thank-you notes for something we get paid to do.”
From Washington Times • Feb. 6, 2017
When you visit a farm-to-table restaurant and order the wild-nettle sformato for thirty dollars, the line between social consciousness and self-gratification disappears.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 24, 2016
His passions were violent; as these often obtained the mastery over him, he could not always square his conduct to the obvious line of self-interest, but self-gratification at least was the paramount object with him.
From The Last Man by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft