individualistic
Americanadjective
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prioritizing the pursuit of individual interests or rights rather than common or collective ones.
In our culture we seem to be moving toward a predominantly individualistic mindset, where egoism is in and altruism is out.
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showing great independence or individuality in thought or action.
Never has the nation produced a more brilliantly argumentative, individualistic, or opinionated group of politicians than our founders.
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Philosophy. of or relating to a belief that all actions are determined by, or for the benefit of, the individual, not society as a whole.
The attempt to construct a new social order on the basis of individualistic doctrine was bound to fail, because the shared customs and practices that make up the common life of society are too valuable.
Other Word Forms
- individualistically adverb
- nonindividualistic adjective
- overindividualistic adjective
- overindividualistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of individualistic
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.
The second value is voice, the term we use to describe the desire for authentic, individualistic self-expression—for instance, the freedom to be oneself without judgment from others.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
Enrique saw it as the opportunity to exert complete control on how PSG played, with brilliant, but ultimately individualistic, Mbappe gone.
From BBC • May 30, 2025
Its pseudo-futuristic vision is militaristic, stainless-steel fortified, masculinist, individualistic, and unforgiving.
From Slate • Mar. 15, 2025
Zuckerberg's former COO Sheryl Sandberg got a lot of grief, much of it well-deserved, for her "Lean In" book and its watered-down, individualistic approach to feminism.
From Salon • Jan. 17, 2025
It seems taken for granted in America that life for idiosyncratic, individualistic kids is brutal.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
