dogma

[ dawg-muh, dog- ]

noun

, plural dog·mas or (Rare) dog·ma·ta [dawg, -m, uh, -t, uh].

1. an official system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behavior, etc., as of a church.

   Synonyms: philosophy, doctrine

2. a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down, as by a church:

   the dogma of the Assumption;

   the recently defined dogma of papal infallibility.

   Synonyms: law, canon, tenet

3. prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group:

   the difficulty of resisting political dogma.

4. a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle:

   the classic dogma of objectivity in scientific observation.

   Synonyms: certainty, conviction

dogma

/ ˈdɒɡmə /

noun

1. a religious doctrine or system of doctrines proclaimed by ecclesiastical authority as true
2. a belief, principle, or doctrine or a code of beliefs, principles, or doctrines

   Marxist dogma

dogma

1. A teaching or set of teachings laid down by a religious group, usually as part of the essential beliefs of the group.

Notes

The term dogma is often applied to statements put forward by someone who thinks, inappropriately, that they should be accepted without proof.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dogma¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin: “philosophical tenet, principle, dogma,” from Greek dógma “what seems good, opinion, belief, (in philosophy) doctrine; decision, public decree, ordinance,” equivalent to dok(eîn) “to expect, think, seem, seem good, pretend” + -ma noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of dogma¹

C17: via Latin from Greek: opinion, belief, from dokein to seem good

Example Sentences

The dogma that a plant cell wall is a thick, more or less permanent barrier “basically disappears with this study.”

From Quanta Magazine

We’ve let our intuition and dogma kind of bias us to the point where we might be missing a lot of important biology.

From Quanta Magazine

Michel and Nonardo were discriminated against by society and the dictatorship that governs the country and represses anyone who does not agree with its dogmas.

From Washington Blade

For Japan, part of the protective dogma has been the idea that the virus is spread most perniciously when people speak loudly or shout.

From Ozy

Andrew Yang agrees with this diagnosis — but not with the rest of the economic dogma.

From Freakonomics

Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.

From The Daily Beast

Had Herx said “this dogma is sexist,” that would be well beyond the reach of the courts.

From The Daily Beast

The Liberal Democrats believe drugs policy should be based on evidence, not dogma or the desire to sound tough.

From The Daily Beast

Democrats and independents who oppose their dogma are infidels.

From The Daily Beast

She says she was released when she feigned acceptance of their dogma.

From The Daily Beast

Such are the ideas which the dogma of gratuitous predestination gives of Divinity!

From Project Gutenberg

The fear of ceasing to be is but an evil for the imagination, which alone brought forth the dogma of another life.

From Project Gutenberg

It must be made perfectly clear, said the bishop, that Christianity was a religion, and not a dietetic dogma.

From Project Gutenberg

How do they reason upon a dogma, and quarrel with acrimony about a system of which even themselves can comprehend nothing?

From Project Gutenberg

The dogma of the immortality of the soul, or of a future life, presents nothing consoling in the Christian religion.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• credo
• creed
• doctrine
• gospel
• precept
• teachings
• tenet