Materialism

Origin

material + -ism

Full definition of materialism

Noun

1. Constant concern over material possessions and wealth; a great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.
• BuckminsterThe irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus.
2. (philosophy) The philosophical belief that nothing exists beyond what is physical.
3. (obsolete, rare) Material substances in the aggregate; matter.

Synonyms

• (philosophy) physicalism
• (philosophy) philosophical materialism

Antonyms

• (philosophy) idealism

Derived terms

• philosophical materialism

Related terms

• materialistic