externalism

[ ik-stur-nl-iz-uh m ]

/ ɪkˈstɜr nlˌɪz əm /

noun

attention to externals, especially excessive attention to externals, as in religion.

Words nearby externalism

external urethral opening, external urethrotomy, external version, external-combustion, external-combustion engine, externalism, externality, externalization, externalize, externalizer, externship

Origin of externalism

First recorded in 1855–60; external + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM externalism

ex·ter·nal·ist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for externalism

They tore off the accumulated husks of externalism, but kept intact the real kernel of religion.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic|Sidney L. Gulick
A religion violently imposed from without as a state-religion naturally tends to hypocrisy and externalism.
The Expositor's Bible|F. W. Farrar
The externalism in which most of our lives are spent makes the effort to look within a painful contradiction of habit.
Expositor's Bible: The Song of Solomon|Walter Adeney
The fallacy of the Socialist program is not in its radicalism, but in its externalism.
The Profits of Religion, Fifth Edition|Upton Sinclair

It is curious how the superstition of externalism has affected many, even noble minds.
Wit and Humor of the Bible|Marion D. Shutter

British Dictionary definitions for externalism

externalism

/ (ɪkˈstɜːnəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

exaggerated emphasis on outward form, esp in religious worship

a philosophical doctrine holding that only objects that can be perceived by the senses are real; phenomenalism

Derived forms of externalism

externalist, noun

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