Darwinian

American  

[dahr-win-ee-uhn] / dɑrˈwɪn i ən /

adjective

1. (sometimes lowercase) pertaining to Charles Darwin or his doctrines.

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noun

1. a follower of Charles Darwin; a person who accepts or advocates Darwinism.

Darwinian British  

/ dɑːˈwɪnɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Charles Darwin or his theory of evolution by natural selection

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noun

1. a person who accepts, supports, or uses this theory

Other Word Forms

• anti-Darwinian
  noun
• non-Darwinian
  adjective
• post-Darwinian
  adjective
• pre-Darwinian
  adjective
• pro-Darwinian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Darwinian

First recorded in 1855–60; Darwin + -ian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Darwinian

Yet the crows offer a saving contrast to the Darwinian competition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

It applied Darwinian logic to human activity - including fighting, feeding, comfort and sex.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

“And we’ll now, in my judgment, go through a Darwinian moment,” Golub said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026

For a good working definition of life, Hecht cited the definition officially used by NASA, which holds that "life is a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution."

From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2023

It feels less Darwinian than Swiftian; it calls to mind a long-ago dart attributed to G. K. Chesterton: when there aren’t enough hats to go around, the problem isn’t solved by lopping off some heads.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt