personalism

[ pur-suh-nl-iz-uhm ]

noun
  1. Also called personal idealism. a modern philosophical movement locating ultimate value and reality in persons, human or divine.

  2. Psychology. an approach stressing individual personality as the central concern of psychology.

Origin of personalism

1
First recorded in 1840–50; personal + -ism

Other words from personalism

  • per·son·al·ist, noun
  • per·son·al·is·tic, adjective

Words Nearby personalism

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

How to use personalism in a sentence

  • No principles of wise government had place in any mind, a blunt and jolly personalism as to the Ins and Outs animating all.

    The Well-Beloved | Thomas Hardy
  • Surely the legitimate province of 'personalism' lies in the region of general ideas, or rather in the Weltanschauung as a whole.

    Outspoken Essays | William Ralph Inge
  • personalism isolates, separates, him from Nature; converts him from a part into the whole, into an absolute essence by himself.

    The Essence of Christianity | Ludwig Feuerbach
  • To practically enter into politics is an important part of American personalism.

    Complete Prose Works | Walt Whitman
  • "personalism" is revealed in the immediate and individual participation of all members in penitente activities.

    The Penitente Moradas of Abiqui | Richard E. Ahlborn

British Dictionary definitions for personalism

personalism

/ (ˈpɜːsənəˌlɪzəm) /


noun
  1. a philosophical movement that stresses the value of persons

  2. an idiosyncratic mode of behaviour or expression

Derived forms of personalism

  • personalistic, adjective
  • personalist, noun, adjective

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