dogma

American  

[dawg-muh, dog-] / ˈdɔg mə, ˈdɒg- /

noun

dogmas, plural dogmata plural

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

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dogma British  

/ 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

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dogma Cultural  

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

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Pop Culture

— Dogma: A film written and directed by Kevin Smith, released in 1999. —Dogma 95: A movement in cinema started by Danish director Lars von Trier in 1995, which established filmmaking constraints such as no use of special effects.

Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dogmas
  plural
• dogmata
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dogma

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

Explanation

Dogma means the doctrine of belief in a religion or a political system. The literal meaning of dogma in ancient Greek was "something that seems true." These days, in English, dogma is more absolute. If you believe in a certain religion or philosophy, you believe in its dogma, or core assumptions. If you belong to a cult that believes that cupcake consumption is the only true path, then you follow the cupcake dogma. Dogma, once adopted, is accepted without question. Go eat cupcakes!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dogma dogmas dogmata

"This challenges the dogma that calorie reduction is necessary to lose weight, but it also tells us that we need to have clear understanding of the mechanisms," he said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

This is a refreshing change from the dogma of the past several years.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

Her break with what she called "anti-clim' dogma" is significant because until now the Green movement in France has regarded air-conditioning as the worst of solutions to climate change.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

Thus, he dared to break with long-held dogma that the economy would overheat and spark runaway inflation if allowed to grow at a sustained rate of much above 2.5% per year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

“I don’t know what the dogma is, but I know it nearly turned my brother’s hair grey.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

In the Middle East, the dogmas of the past are inadequate to the stormy present.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

"It is up to all of us to preserve confidence in our democratic coexistence," he said, adding: "In democracy, one's own ideas can never be dogmas; nor can those of others be threats."

From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025

Every director has a complete different set of dogmas, if you may, or things that have to be a certain way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024

CrossFit might, per the founder, have a bit of a religion-slash-biker-gang aura around it—but what it transmitted to me about food and body fat wasn’t all that different from the standard cultural dogmas.

From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2023

At parties they start to ask leading questions that have the ring of inquisition; they are interested in my positions, my dogmas.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Early writers of the modern period, Protestant or Roman Catholic, use it frequently of heretics; thus the Augsburg Confession protests Dogmata in revived use. that the Protestants have carefully avoided nova dogmata.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 "Dodwell" to "Drama" by Various

By little and little, if thou doest not better look to it, those sacred dogmata will be blotted out of thy mind.

From Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome

So much for the dogmata of my friend Lismahago, whom I describe the more circumstantially, as I firmly believe he will set up his rest in Monmouthshire.

From The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Smollett, T. (Tobias)

Dogma makes dogmas or dogmata; exanthema, exanthemas or exanthemata; miasm or miasma, miasms or miasmata; stigma, stigmas or stigmata.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

I divide all apodeictic propositions, whether demonstrable or immediately certain, into dogmata and mathemata.

From The Critique of Pure Reason by Meiklejohn, John Miller Dow

Related Words

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