materialism

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A strong focus on owning things and having money rather than on spiritual or moral values.

   She criticized the materialism of a society that measures success only by how much you own.

2. 2
   noun

   The philosophical view that nothing exists except physical matter.

   As a scientist, he leaned toward materialism, believing the mind is simply the activity of the brain.

Borrowed from French matérialisme. By surface analysis, material + -ism.

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