How to Use self-preservation in a Sentence

self-preservation

noun
  • Koepp says this is a form of self-preservation.
    — Darryn King, Vanity Fair, 19 May 2026
  • To look away is an act of both will and denialism, a form of self-preservation.
    — David Remnick, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
  • Sometimes not speaking out can be an act of self-preservation.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
  • This project proves that home decor can be both an act of self-expression and self-preservation.
    — Moná Thomas, People.com, 22 May 2025
  • Then, there's self-preservation.
    — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
  • The drive circuits around what keeps us alive, beyond mere self-preservation.
    — Rosie Stockton may 29, Literary Hub, 29 May 2025
  • There’s a self-preservation in there somewhere, a bit of resilience.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 7 May 2023
  • The body defaults to self-preservation.
    — Amelie Claydon, New York Times, 17 June 2026
  • What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs?
    — The Editors, National Review, 6 June 2024
  • Pride is measured against self-preservation.
    — Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 16 May 2026
  • The boy in the story has developed some crafty means of self-preservation.
    — Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
  • As the moon and Saturn clash, self-preservation instincts kick in.
    — Usa Today, USA Today, 9 July 2025
  • What may look like consent is often survival or self-preservation.
    — Liz Roberts, New York Daily News, 30 June 2025
  • So, this sorting can be an act of self-preservation — a way of making sense of a world where all the rules have changed.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025
  • So, this sorting can be an act of self-preservation – a way of making sense of a world where all the rules have changed.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Her will—and maybe her capacity for self-preservation—had waned.
    — Amory Rowe Salem and Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 9 Jan. 2024
  • My husband — who has much stronger instincts for self-preservation — stayed firmly on the ground.
    — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Apr. 2026
  • There’s no judgment here on those who need to step away from soul-crushing updates in the name of self-preservation.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2024
  • No one comes out of the film unscathed or as a beacon of anything other than self-preservation.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Yet the band had predetermined the time frame on the basis of ideas of self-preservation.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
  • These days, the instinct for self-preservation may be losing out to the thirst for adventure.
    — J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 6 June 2025
  • About the importance of setting boundaries for the sake of self-preservation?
    — Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Nov. 2023
  • Kenneth is a 38-year-old who’s led a very small, isolated life out of self-preservation.
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 14 June 2023
  • What real or invented term could be used to describe this extreme form of self-preservation?
    — The Week Staff, The Week, 10 Mar. 2023
  • But Cyrus, unlike Lee, values self-preservation above the truth.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
  • This conclusion was a measure of self-preservation.
    — Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
  • Recent tests show some advanced models will act to ensure their self-preservation if threatened with demise.
    — Josh Feldman, NBC news, 1 June 2025
  • Of resourceful self-preservation for the sake of self-preservation alone.
    — Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Put more time and energy into self-preservation and feeling and looking your best.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Complacency, cowardice and meek self-preservation won’t do here and now.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-preservation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: