How to say "self-sacrificing" in Japanese

• 献身的けんしんてきCommon
  na-adjectiveCovers 'self-sacrificing' in its warm, positive sense of wholeheartedly devoting yourself to a person, cause, or work; it also means 'devoted.' Picture a nurse or parent whose selfless care centers entirely on others.
  キング牧師ぼくしが献身的けんしんてきに力ちからを尽つくしたものすべてが水泡すいほうに帰かえしたかのように思おもわれた。↗

  Everything Rev. Martin Luther King had worked so hard for seemed lost.
• 犠牲的ぎせいてき
  na-adjectiveAlso means 'self-sacrificing,' but it centers on the sacrifice itself — what someone gives up — rather than on warm devotion. It is less common, and 献身的 is usually the word you want for this meaning.

Choose 献身的 for the common, positive sense of self-sacrificing devotion to a person or cause; the less common 犠牲的 stresses the sacrifice itself, fitting contexts where what is given up matters most.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 献身的けんしんてきdevoted
• 犠牲的ぎせいてきself-sacrificing