materialism

UK: /məˈtɪəriəlɪz^əm/

US: /məˈtɪriəˌlɪzəm/

US: (mə tēr′ē ə liz′əm)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ma•te•ri•al•ism /məˈtɪriəˌlɪzəm/   n. [uncountable]

1. too much emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, as opposed to spiritual or intellectual values:
   the materialism of the 1970's and 1980's.

ma•te•ri•a•list, n. [countable] , adj. 
ma•ter•i•a•list•ic, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ma•te•ri•al•ism  (mə tēr′ē ə liz′əm), n. 

1. preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
2. Philosophy the philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe, and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies.

• Neo-Latin māteriālismus. See material, -ism
• 1740–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

materialism / məˈtɪərɪəˌlɪzəm/ noun

1. interest in and desire for money, possessions, etc, rather than spiritual or ethical values
2. the monist doctrine that matter is the only reality and that the mind, the emotions, etc, are merely functions of it
   Compare idealism3, dualism2
3. the rejection of any religious or supernatural account of things

maˈterialist noun , adjective

maˌterialˈistic adjective

maˌterialˈistically adverb