humanism
Americannoun
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any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate.
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devotion to or study of the humanities.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) the studies, principles, or culture of the humanists.
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Philosophy. a variety of ethical theory and practice that emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world and often rejects the importance of belief in God.
noun
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the denial of any power or moral value superior to that of humanity; the rejection of religion in favour of a belief in the advancement of humanity by its own efforts
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a philosophical position that stresses the autonomy of human reason in contradistinction to the authority of the Church
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(often capital) a cultural movement of the Renaissance, based on classical studies
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interest in the welfare of people
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of humanism
Explanation
Do you think humans should use their brains and reason to be the best they can be, instead of relying on religion? Then you believe in humanism. Humanism comes from the Latin humanitas, which means "education that befits a civilized man." This belief system or cultural movement bubbled up during the Renaissance, promoting classical Greek and Roman values like reason, justice and ethics instead of supernatural religious ideas. People who follow humanism are called humanists, and they've probably studied a lot of literature, philosophy and history.
Vocabulary lists containing humanism
Some Political and Philosophical -isms
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The Renaissance and Early Modern European History - Introductory
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The Enlightenment
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sociologist Matias Rodríguez, a lecturer at the Academy of Christian Humanism University in Santiago, attributed Pinochet's popularity among younger Chileans to a lack of awareness about the gravity of his crimes.
From Barron's • Nov. 4, 2025
Humanism was a movement born in Italy in the fourteenth century that focused on the study of human beings, human nature, and human achievements, as opposed to the study of God.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
"Humanism is about kindness, it's about rationality," Chris added.
From BBC • Jul. 18, 2022
In the early 1970s, he co-edited an entire symposium volume titled Humanism in Medicine.
From Scientific American • Mar. 11, 2020
Have you read in Schiller's new Studies in Humanism what seem to me two excellent chapters, one on "Freedom," and the other on the "making of reality"?...
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by James, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
