self-preserving
adjective
self-pre·serv·ing ˌself-pri-ˈzər-viŋ 
: acting or tending to preserve oneself or itself
self-preserving instincts/behavior
It's a novel about whether, amid the absurd twists and cruelties of life, you end up being a self-preserving observer of the fray, a committed fighter against overwhelming odds, or something uncomfortably in between.
Kenneth Kid
Kenneth Kid
Word History
First Known Use
1605, in the meaning defined above
- strip mine
- strip miner
- strip naked
- strip one's bed
- strip planking
- strip play
- strip poker
- strip search
- strip survey
- strip system
- strip template
- strip the bed
- strip the/one's bed
- strip to the waist
- strip windows
- strip-chart recorder
- strip-chart recording
- strip-crop
- strip-in
- strip-mine
- strip-search
- stripe
- stripe blight
- stripe canker
- stripe rust