hedonistic
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
A hedonistic person is committed to seeking sensual pleasure — the type of guy you might find in a massage parlor or at an all-you-can-eat buffet. This term — along with the related words hedonist and hedonistic — is derived from the Greek word hedone, "pleasure." The Cyreniacs taught that physical gratification is superior to the mental satisfaction offered by anticipation and remembrance. That's why hedonistic folks revel in pleasure, and demand it in the present tense.
Vocabulary lists containing hedonistic
Mardi Gras: Fun
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 35
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Kohlberg's Six Stages of Moral Reasoning
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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.
He takes up work in a hotel kitchen and enjoys hedonistic nights in the city’s clubs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
It seems that in this era of wellness obsession, of kale salads and Pilates, people who are recklessly hedonistic, who choose pleasure over health, still have a certain kind of glamour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
Brown received his first Oscar nomination in 2024 for his supporting role as the hedonistic, hurting brother of Jeffrey Wright’s novelist in “American Fiction.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
My hedonistic weeklong breaks from school were about resting up and devouring novels, my stack of fiction pushed aside through semesters of full class loads and at least one job.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2025
The old man watched him with victorious merriment, sitting in his musty blue armchair like some satanic and hedonistic deity on a throne, a stolen U.S.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
