DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

secularism

[ sek-yuh-luh-riz-uh m ]
/ ˈsɛk yə ləˌrɪz əm /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR secularism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

secular spirit or tendency, especially a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship.
the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element.

Words related to secularism

blasphemy, fallacy, dissent, infidelity, defection, impiety, disbelief, nonconformity, divergence, schism, atheism, error, apostasy, sin, dissidence, revisionism, iconoclasm, heterodoxy, agnosticism, sectarianism

Words nearby secularism

sectoranopia, sectorial, secular, secular humanism, secular tertiaries, secularism, secularity, secularize, secund, secunderabad, secundigravida

Origin of secularism

First recorded in 1850–55; secular + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM secularism

sec·u·lar·ist, noun, adjectivesec·u·lar·is·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for secularism

British Dictionary definitions for secularism

secularism
/ (ˈsɛkjʊləˌrɪzəm) /

noun

philosophy a doctrine that rejects religion, esp in ethics
the attitude that religion should have no place in civil affairs
the state of being secular

Derived forms of secularism

secularist, noun, adjectivesecularistic, 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