eclecticism
Americannoun
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the use or advocacy of an eclectic method.
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a tendency in architecture and the decorative arts to mix various historical styles with modern elements with the aim of combining the virtues of many styles or increasing allusive content.
noun
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an eclectic system or method
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the use or advocacy of such a system
Etymology
Origin of eclecticism
Vocabulary lists containing eclecticism
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.
What set “Mothership Connection” apart was its humor, imagination and eclecticism.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
With a pioneering sense of eclecticism, he connected the dots between John Cage and James Brown, between Mahler and MTT’s famous grandfather, Boris Thomashefsky, a star of the New York Yiddish theater.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2025
"As a novice, I liked the idea of eclecticism and variety, and having freedom in the overall structure," he says.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2023
Adams infused the eclecticism — and the sometimes anti-dramatic artificiality — of these texts with music of fast-shifting colors and energy, of tenderness and unexpected, haunting effects.
From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2022
We know that this philosophy was specially elaborated by M. Cousin, the father of French eclecticism.
From God and the State by Bakunin, Mikhail Aleksandrovich
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.