traditionalism

[ truh-dish-uh-nl-iz-uhm ]

noun

1. adherence to tradition as authority, especially in matters of religion.
2. a system of philosophy according to which all knowledge of religious truth is derived from divine revelation and received by traditional instruction.

traditionalism

/ trəˈdɪʃənəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. the doctrine that all knowledge originates in divine revelation and is perpetuated by tradition
2. adherence to tradition, esp in religion

Derived Forms

• traˌditionalˈistic, adjective
• traˈditionalist, nounadjective

Other Words From

• tra·dition·al·ist noun adjective
• tra·dition·al·istic adjective
• anti·tra·dition·al·ist noun adjective
• nontra·dition·al·ist noun adjective
• nontra·dition·al·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of traditionalism¹

First recorded in 1855–60; traditional + -ism

Example Sentences

“Within its 1806 embodiment of the cocktail incarnate—spirit, sweetner, bitters, water—there is traditionalism,” Simonson writes.

From The Daily Beast

In the musty traditionalism of the Marshalsea old John Dickens could easily remain optimistic.

From Project Gutenberg

And this streak of her father's ascetic traditionalism in Gratian always roused in him a wish to break it up.

From Project Gutenberg

Neither traditionalism nor the theological positivism of Duns Scotus sufficed for it; it sought to rationalize itself.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a fair sample of that lazy traditionalism which Christian opinion has been constrained to follow.

From Project Gutenberg

The motive of reverence for the soil, for the past, the motive of traditionalism, is beginning to be overheard.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• accuracy
• austerity
• difficulty
• firmness
• hardship
• harshness
• ordeal
• precision
• rigidity
• tenacity
• tribulation
• vicissitude