Darwinism

noun

Dar·​win·​ism ˈdär-wə-ˌni-zəm 

1

: a theory of the origin and perpetuation of new species of animals and plants that offspring of a given organism vary, that natural selection favors the survival of some of these variations over others, that new species have arisen and may continue to arise by these processes, and that widely divergent groups of plants and animals have arisen from the same ancestors compare evolution sense 1, neo-Darwinism

2

: a theory that inherent dynamic forces allow only the fittest persons or organizations to prosper in a competitive environment or situation

economic Darwinism

compare social darwinism

Darwinist

ˈdär-wə-nist 

noun or adjective

Examples of Darwinism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But a conversation with Quammen always contains multitudes: Darwinism, connubial negotiation and bliss, dedication to the literary and the true, and a fierce and gregarious curiosity, with Montana often in the wings. —Lisa Chase, Outside Online, 29 Nov. 2024

That’s the core argument in Tom Goodwin’s book Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Business Disruption. —Ashar Samdani, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024

Advertisement The Dodgers are, essentially, facing a sort of baseball Darwinism the rest of the season — with a bloated roster likely to be trimmed down the stretch, and a number of players uncertain to make the final cut. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2024

Social Darwinism, for one, misapplied Darwin's ideas about the struggle for existence in natural selection to human society, providing a pseudoscientific rationalization for social injustice and oppression. —Kate Wong, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2020

As social systems crumble, interpersonal trust evaporates, giving rise to a crude, competitive Darwinism. —Paula Ramón, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

From the beginning of the 2016 campaign to the present day, a dominant theme has been how, in Trump world, the banal duplicity a person tends to experience in a political operation has reached a kind of baroque late-stage Darwinism. —Robert Draper, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2024

In this game of healthcare industry Darwinism, unicorns are giving way to ponies. —Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023

Mistaken ideas about Darwinism led many Western scholars to believe that civilizations evolved along a linear, hierarchical path, from primitive villages to ancient kingdoms to modern industrial and urban societies. —Merilee Grindle, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing Darwinism

• anti-Darwinism
• neo-Darwinism
• social Darwinism

Rhymes for Darwinism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism

Kids Definition

Darwinism

noun

Dar·​win·​ism ˈdär-wə-ˌniz-əm 

: a theory explaining the origin and continued existence of new kinds of animals and plants by means of natural selection acting on chance variations

Medical Definition

Darwinism

noun

Dar·​win·​ism ˈdär-wə-ˌniz-əm 

: a theory of the origin and perpetuation of new species of animals and plants that offspring of a given organism vary, that natural selection favors the survival of some of these variations over others, that new species have arisen and may continue to arise by these processes, and that widely divergent groups of plants and animals have arisen from the same ancestors

broadly : a theory of biological evolution

Darwinist

-wə-nəst 

noun or adjective