materialist

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /məˈtɪriəlɪst/ UK /məˈtɪəriəlɪst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
one who values possessions over ideas, or who holds matter alone is real

As a thoroughgoing materialist, he denied any nonphysical reality.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · one who values possessions... acquisitive worldly mercenary possessivesecularist

Opposites

idealist spiritualist ascetic

Word family

Derived forms materialisticmaterialistically

Related forms material materialism materialize matter

Etymology

From material (from Late Latin māteriālis 'of matter', from Latin māteria 'matter, substance', from māter 'mother, source') plus -ist. Denotes one who prizes possessions, or who holds that only matter is real.

māteria Latin māter Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# materialist

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /məˈtɪriəlɪst/
**IPA (UK):** /məˈtɪəriəlɪst/

## Meanings
1. one who values possessions over ideas, or who holds matter alone is real

## Examples
- As a thoroughgoing materialist, he denied any nonphysical reality.

## Synonyms
- acquisitive
- worldly
- mercenary
- possessive
- secularist

## Antonyms
- idealist
- spiritualist
- ascetic

## Derived Forms
- materialistic
- materialistically

## Related Forms
- material
- materialism
- materialize
- matter

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: māteria
- Root: māter

## Etymology
From material (from Late Latin māteriālis 'of matter', from Latin māteria 'matter, substance', from māter 'mother, source') plus -ist. Denotes one who prizes possessions, or who holds that only matter is real.

## AI Etymology
Materialist comes from material (from Late Latin māteriālis 'of matter', from Latin māteria 'matter, substance', from māter 'mother, source') plus -ist. Denotes one who prizes possessions, or who holds that only matter is real. The etymological trail includes Latin māteria, Latin māter. The same word family includes materialistic, materialistically, material, materialism, materialize, matter. Its current noun use means "one who values possessions over ideas, or who holds matter alone is real".

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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