hedonism
nounUK /ˈhɛdənɪzəm/ · US /ˈhiːdənɪzəm/
Etymology From Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”) + English -ism. First attested in 1856.
1
Ethics, Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences Usually The philosophical belief that prioritizes happiness, particularly sensual pleasure as the highest good in life.
- It began with his shrugging off of both family and faith and taking the Amtrak Vermonter out of Penn Station to major in minor hedonism and minor in the major modernists at a hippie college in the great Jewless north.2020 April 24, Jeremy M. Davies, “No Sleep till Auschwitz”, in The Baffler, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2020:
2
Usually A general devotion to the pursuit of pleasure.
- Derived terms
- antihedonism, psychological hedonism
- Related terms
- hedonic, hedonics, hedonist, hedonistically, hedonistic, debauchery