solipsism
[sol-ip-siz-uh m]
- Philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
- extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption.
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Origin of solipsism
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for solipsist
Historical Examples
To use a philosophical term, the paranoiac is the Simon-pure "solipsist."
The Behavior of CrowdsEverett Dean Martin
solipsism
- philosophy the extreme form of scepticism which denies the possibility of any knowledge other than of one's own existence
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Word Origin
C19: from Latin sōlus alone + ipse self
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for solipsist
solipsism
n.
1871, coined from Latin solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)) + ipse "self." The view or theory that self is the only object of real knowledge or the only thing that is real. "The identification of one's self with the Absolute is not generally intended, but the denial of there being really anybody else" [Century Dictionary].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
solipsism
[(sol-uhp-siz-uhm, soh-luhp-siz-uhm)]
The belief that all reality is just one's own imagining of reality, and that one's self is the only thing that exists.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.