mechanistic

[ mek-uh-nis-tik ]

/ ˌmɛk əˈnɪs tɪk /

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adjective

of or relating to the theory of mechanism or to mechanists.

of or relating to mechanics.

mechanical.

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Origin of mechanistic

First recorded in 1880–85; mechanist + -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM mechanistic

mech·a·nis·ti·cal·ly, adverban·ti·mech·a·nis·tic, adjectivean·ti·mech·a·nis·ti·cal·ly, adverbnon·mech·a·nis·tic, adjective

sem·i·mech·a·nis·tic, adjectiveun·mech·a·nis·tic, adjective

Words nearby mechanistic

mechanics, mechanic's lien, Mechanicsville, mechanism, mechanist, mechanistic, mechanization, mechanize, mechano-, mechanochemistry, mechanomorphism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mechanistic in a sentence

This assumption has its origin in the scientific revolution of the 17th century, and is part of what we call the mechanistic worldview.
Is Reality a Game of Quantum Mirrors? A New Theory Suggests It Might Be|Peter Evans|June 30, 2021|Singularity Hub
For all his enthusiasm about driving, however, Banham takes pains to refute the “common mechanistic misconception that everything in Los Angeles is caused by the automobile as a way of life.”
Los Angeles: “A Humming, Smoking, Ever-Changing Contraption”|Colin Marshall|April 28, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The range of experiments, from acoustic analysis to fMRI, also provides “a nice next stepping stone to develop a more methodical and mechanistic understanding of how we process screams,” he says.
Surprisingly, humans recognize joyful screams faster than fearful screams|Anushree Dave|April 13, 2021|Science News
Because these mRNA vaccines work by providing instructions to your body to make spike protein, this local response to the vaccine makes mechanistic sense.
Why covid arm and other post-vaccine rashes might actually be a ‘good thing’|Marlene Cimons|April 11, 2021|Washington Post

A common method is eroding the plausibility of the concept by appealing to the mechanistic nature of reality.
Do We Have Free Will? Maybe It Doesn't Matter - Facts So Romantic|Jim Davies|April 7, 2021|Nautilus
This monistic soul-hypothesis, then, is at bottom mechanistic.
Freedom in Science and Teaching.|Ernst Haeckel
They are mechanistic as indicating the mechanism, the means, of accomplishing the possibilities which they indicate.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey
Kate had been rash enough to endeavor to explain something of the Fulhams' theories regarding the mechanistic conception of life.
The Precipice|Elia Wilkinson Peattie
According to the old mechanistic theory, the world could be reduced to two elements, matter and motion.
Major Prophets of To-Day|Edwin E. Slosson
In fact, the reversed film of the cinematograph may be regarded as the reductio ad absurdum of the mechanistic hypothesis.
Major Prophets of To-Day|Edwin E. Slosson

British Dictionary definitions for mechanistic

mechanistic

/ (ˌmɛkəˈnɪstɪk) /

adjective

philosophy of or relating to the theory of mechanism

maths of or relating to mechanics

Derived forms of mechanistic

mechanistically, adverb

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