WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ma•te•ri•al•ism /məˈtɪriəˌlɪzəm/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
ma•ter•i•a•list•ic, adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- 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•ter•i•a•list•ic, adj.
ma•te•ri•al•ism
(mə tēr′ē ə liz′əm),USA pronunciation n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
- Philosophythe 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
ma•te•ri•al•ist
(mə tēr′ē ə list),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
ma•te′ri•al•is′tic, adj.
ma•te′ri•al•is′ti•cal•ly, adv.
- a person who is markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
- Philosophyan adherent of philosophical materialism.
adj.
- Philosophyconcerned with material things;
materialistic. - Philosophyof or pertaining to philosophical materialism or its adherents.
- Neo-Latin māteriālista. See material, -ist
- 1660–70
ma•te′ri•al•is′ti•cal•ly, adv.
'materialistic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
alternative
- bourgeois
- downshifting
- earthly
- Essex girl
- Haeckel
- kugel
- Lokayata
- materialist
- materialize
- mechanical
- sensual