ma·te·ri·al·ism

(mə-tîr′ē-ə-lĭz′əm)

1. Philosophy The doctrine that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena.

2. The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life.

3. Concern for possessions or material wealth and physical comfort, especially to the exclusion of spiritual or intellectual pursuits.

ma·te′ri·al·ist n.

ma·te′ri·al·is′tic adj.

ma·te′ri·al·is′ti·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

materialism

(məˈtɪərɪəˌlɪzəm)

1. interest in and desire for money, possessions, etc, rather than spiritual or ethical values

2. (Philosophy) philosophy the monist doctrine that matter is the only reality and that the mind, the emotions, etc, are merely functions of it. Compare idealism³, dualism² See also identity theory

3. (Philosophy) ethics the rejection of any religious or supernatural account of things

maˈterialist n, adj

maˌterialˈistic adj

maˌterialˈistically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ma•te•ri•al•ism

(məˈtɪər i əˌlɪz əm)

n.

1. preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, as opposed to spiritual or intellectual values.

2. the philosophical theory that regards matter as constituting the universe, and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies.

ma•te′ri•a•list, n., adj.

ma•te`ri•al•is′tic, adj.

ma•te`ri•al•is′ti•cal•ly, adv.

materialism

1. the philosophical theory that regards matter and its phenomena as the only reality and explains all occurrences, including the mental, as due to material agencies.
2. attention to or emphasis on material objects, needs, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of intellectual and spiritual values. — materialist, n. — materialistic, adj.

materialism

The doctrine that all phenomena are explained by physical laws alone.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	materialism - a desire for wealth and material possessions with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters philistinism desire - something that is desired
	2.	materialism - (philosophy) the philosophical theory that matter is the only reality physicalism dialectical materialism - the materialistic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels philosophy - the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory - a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy

Translations

مادية

materialismus

materialismi

materialism

[məˈtɪərɪəlɪzəm] N → materialismo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

materialism

[məˈtɪəriəlɪz^əm] n

[person, society] → matérialisme m

(= philosophical belief) → matérialisme m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

materialism

n → der Materialismus

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

materialism

[məˈtɪərɪəˌlɪz/əm] n → materialismo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The very simplicity of his reasoning was its strength, and his materialism was far more compelling than the subtly complex materialism of Charley Furuseth.

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(Cambridge University Press, 1920), will see that an old-fashioned materialism can receive no support from modern physics.

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You know, one of those uncouth new people one's so often coming across nowadays, One of those free-thinkers you know, who are reared d'emblee in theories of atheism, scepticism, and materialism. In former days," said Golenishtchev, not observing, or not willing to observe, that both Anna and Vronsky wanted to speak, "in former days the free-thinker was a man who had been brought up in ideas of religion, law, and morality, and only through conflict and struggle came to free-thought; but now there has sprung up a new type of born free-thinkers who grow up without even having heard of principles of morality or of religion, of the existence of authorities, who grow up directly in ideas of negation in everything, that is to say, savages.

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Precisely the same blinded materialism (working treacherously behind my back) now sought to rob me of the only right of property that my poverty could claim--my right of spiritual property in my perishing aunt.

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Among the other great Victorian writers the most obvious disciple of Carlyle in his opposition to the materialism of modern life is John Ruskin.

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That feminine penetration--so clever and so tainted by the eternal instinct of self-defence, so ready to see an obvious evil in everything it cannot understand--filled her with bitter resentment against both the men who could offer to the spiritual and tragic strife of her feelings nothing but the coarseness of their abominable materialism. In her anger against her own ineffectual self-deception she found hate enough for them both.

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And so we loved and were happy; and I forgave him his materialism because of his tremendous work in the world, performed without thought of soul-gain thereby, and because of his so exceeding modesty of spirit that prevented him from having pride and regal consciousness of himself and his soul.

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Pancras--implied a comment on the materialism of life.

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I have a natural shrinking from all forms of rough materialism. I seldom come in contact with the rough crowd.

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Criticism is infested with a cant of materialism, which assumes that manual skill and activity is the first merit of all men, and disparages such as say and do not, overlooking the fact that some men, namely poets, are natural sayers, sent into the world to the end of expression, and confounds them with those whose province is action but who quit it to imitate the sayers.

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Young men of the richer sort had made a pastime of the same pursuit, 'which was not unamusing.' And hence bitter enmities had arisen; the professors of knowledge had revenged themselves by calling him a villainous corrupter of youth, and by repeating the commonplaces about atheism and materialism and sophistry, which are the stock-accusations against all philosophers when there is nothing else to be said of them.

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It was an elemental materialism, difficult to understand, but it was a language very clear to Martin.

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