Protestant ethic
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Protestant ethic
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
They rode to work in Rolls-Royces and adhered to a Protestant ethic of noblesse oblige.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
Where capitalism flourishes, can the Protestant ethic be far behind?
From Washington Post • Apr. 23, 2019
They have nothing to do with the Protestant ethic — quite the contrary.
From Salon • Jul. 16, 2017
If you eat kale and sweet potatoes, it will make you feel less depressed and more beautiful, and you won’t die, which is, I suppose, the goal of modern life, the Protestant ethic, and the spirit of capitalism.
From Slate • Oct. 12, 2015
The Protestant ethic was being destroyed by the shopping mall and the counter-culture.
From Economist • Feb. 3, 2011
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.
