Positive character trait
Self-sacrificing
Willing to give up what one wants so that other people can have what they need.
3 ready sentences Updated Run by Adrian Nutiu
What it looks like
- Gives up their own time, comfort or chance so that someone else can have what they need.
- Takes the harder share of a job without making a point of it.
- Puts a family member's or a team's need ahead of their own plans.
Fits when someone willingly bears a real cost to protect or help others
Not when the sacrifice is coerced, unnecessary, or likely to cause greater harm
How to say it
Replace the brackets with what the person actually did.
There is no resume line for this one: a resume that praises self-sacrifice invites an employer to expect it. Describe what you took on and what it achieved instead.
Fills [Name] in the reference and the report card comment, ready to copy.
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Reference or recommendation [Name] has been self-sacrificing in the best sense: when [a colleague or the team] needed it, they [gave up leave, took the night shifts or turned down a move] without complaint.
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Report card comment [Name] often gives up their own turn or treat so that a classmate can have one, which is generous and noticed. We are also encouraging them to speak up for what they want.
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In a story, shown not told There were two tickets and three of them. He said he had never liked crowds anyway, and waved them off at the gate.
The self-sacrificing medic gave up his seat on the final evacuation vehicle.
The definition and the sentences are written for this site; dictionaries are used to check the sense. How words are chosen and reviewed.