meliorism

[ meel-yuh-riz-uhm, mee-lee-uh- ]
See synonyms for meliorism on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the doctrine that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort.

Origin of meliorism

1
1855–60; <Latin melior better + -ism

Other words from meliorism

  • mel·io·rist, noun, adjective
  • mel·io·ris·tic, adjective

Words Nearby meliorism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use meliorism in a sentence

  • As an inevitable result of all the influences that constitute his world he finds himself yearning for meliorism as the crownpiece.

    The Vitalized School | Francis B. Pearson
  • So he becomes the eloquent apostle of meliorism, proclaiming his gospel without abatement.

    The Vitalized School | Francis B. Pearson
  • meliorism,—the desire to better the conditions of life for themselves and for their children—animated them.

    The American Empire | Scott Nearing
  • meliorism, the theory that there is in nature a tendency to better and better development.

    The Nuttall Encyclopaedia | Edited by Rev. James Wood
  • Be they false or be they true, the meaning of them is this meliorism.

    Pragmatism | William James

British Dictionary definitions for meliorism

meliorism

/ (ˈmiːlɪəˌrɪzəm) /


noun
  1. the notion that the world can be improved by human effort

Origin of meliorism

1
C19: from Latin melior better

Derived forms of meliorism

  • meliorist, adjective, noun
  • melioristic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012