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• Social Darwinism
  Social Darwinism

  noun

  a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
• social Darwinism
  social Darwinism

  A theory arising in the late nineteenth century that the laws of evolution, which Charles Darwin had observed in nature, also apply to society. Social Darwinists argued that social progress resulted from conflicts in which the fittest or best adapted individuals, or entire societies, would prevail. It gave rise to the slogan “survival of the fittest.”

Social Darwinism

American  

[soh-shuhl dahr-wuh-niz-uhm] / ˈsoʊ ʃəl ˈdɑr wəˌnɪz əm /

Or social Darwinism

noun

Sociology.

1. a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.

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social Darwinism Cultural  

1. A theory arising in the late nineteenth century that the laws of evolution, which Charles Darwin had observed in nature, also apply to society. Social Darwinists argued that social progress resulted from conflicts in which the fittest or best adapted individuals, or entire societies, would prevail. It gave rise to the slogan “survival of the fittest.”

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Other Word Forms

• Social Darwinist
  noun
• social Darwinist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Social Darwinism

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Social Darwinism social Darwinism

Social Darwinism was a bad idea in the 1900s.

From Salon ● May 27, 2025

As California Supreme Court Justice Loren Miller explained in a 1966 book, the ruling “smuggled Social Darwinism into the Constitution.”

From Scientific American ● Aug. 19, 2020

Since when has Liberty University embraced the teaching of Social Darwinism in Ethics 101?

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2020

This set of concepts came to be known as Social Darwinism.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

It's like some horribly twisted form of Social Darwinism.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Neo-Malthusian refers to the concepts of economist Thomas Malthus, who argued against human overpopulation in the 18th century; social Darwinism is a misapplication of biologist Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory to validate conservative social hierarchies.

From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2024

Anything less, so the argument goes, is social Darwinism.

From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2022

Some even accuse him, history’s most outspoken opponent of social Darwinism, of being — you guessed it — a social Darwinist.

From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2021

The organization’s main tenets of Fascism called for a heightened focus on national unity, militarism, social Darwinism, and loyalty to the state.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

In Darryl’s case, he had written a paper on the novel Deliverance and social Darwinism, the kind of thing a high school boy would grasp on to.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove