public-spirited

American  

[puhb-lik-spir-i-tid] / ˈpʌb lɪkˈspɪr ɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. having or showing an unselfish interest in the public welfare.

   a public-spirited citizen.

---

public-spirited British  

adjective

1. having or showing active interest in public welfare or the good of the community

---

Other Word Forms

• public-spiritedness noun

Etymology

Origin of public-spirited

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Instead of manipulating government for their own narrow interests, the rich can add a distinctively independent-minded, public-spirited and efficacious set of voices to the national debate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

There are weekly chats where people discuss whichever modest steps they took that week to prep, and many posts, far from fetishizing individual survival, are public-spirited.

From Slate • Mar. 28, 2022

And yet, as magnificent as Wells the public-spirited visionary could be, the private man remains more problematic.

From Washington Post • Nov. 2, 2021

Federalists believed in a strong federal republican government led by learned, public-spirited men of property.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Positive words and phrases included generously, public-spirited, wise, beneficial, commendable, carefully researched, useful, honorable, good.

From "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements