Malthusian

[mal-thoo-zhuhn, -zee-uhn]

adjective

1. of or relating to the theories of T. R. Malthus, which state that population tends to increase faster, at a geometrical ratio, than the means of subsistence, which increases at an arithmetical ratio, and that this will result in an inadequate supply of the goods supporting life unless war, famine, or disease reduces the population or the increase of population is checked.

noun

1. a follower of Malthus.

Malthusian

/ mælˈθjuːzɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the theory of Malthus stating that increases in population tend to exceed increases in the means of subsistence and that therefore sexual restraint should be exercised

noun

1. a supporter of this theory

Other Word Forms

• Malthusianism noun
• anti-Malthusian adjective
• anti-Malthusianism noun
• non-Malthusian adjective
• pro-Malthusian adjective
• pro-Malthusianism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Malthusian¹

First recorded in 1805–15; Malthus + -ian

Example Sentences

Others sounded the alarm about global overpopulation, resurrecting Malthusian fears about the human population growing faster than our food sources can sustain us.

Read more on Salon

But as a wave of economic liberalization swept through India in the late 1980s, the Malthusian nightmare never materialized.

Read more on Washington Post

At the World Economic Forum, organizers tried their best to change the gloomy Malthusian narrative about aging.

Read more on New York Times

Still, the words “voluntary human extinction” often elicit reactions of spluttering horror, and terms like “eco-fascist” and “Malthusian” are often lobbed at the group.

Read more on New York Times

This is traceable in large part to its Communist government’s “one-child” policy, in force between 1980 and 2016, which was an especially simplistic — and, with its coerced abortions and sterilizations, harsh — application of Malthusian thinking.

Read more on Washington Post