materialism

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of materialism Movingly, this self-insistence can be read as a type of amateur cultural materialism: here, for the record, are the smallest specificities of a working-class English childhood in the sixties and seventies. James Wood, New Yorker, 14 July 2025 Lucy’s materialism is what drove the two apart before. Myisha Battle, Time, 20 June 2025 In a world that encourages materialism and consumerism, choosing to leave space—even if only 20%—sends a powerful message to yourself and, possibly, inspires others to do the same. Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 June 2025 These public broadsides have hinted at Trump’s vision of a different American materialism: more Cybertrucks, less French wine. Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 9 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for materialism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for materialism
Noun
  • The movie also exposes the confluence of human curiosity, commercialism, and the ethics associated with forcing these long extinct creatures to function in a modern world.
    Blake D. Morant, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • One of the Mangold film’s antagonists, folklorist and Newport overseer Alan Lomax, is seen and heard debating the idea of purity vs. commercialism in folk music.
    David Browne, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2025
Noun
  • Sadly, and as usual, greed takes precedence over logic.
    U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
  • His previous war was driven by greed and cost hundreds of lives, Ka’iana’s father among them, but Kahekili claims to have learned from his mistakes and now only wants what’s best for the islands.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 31 July 2025
Noun
  • Parts of its past are marred by injustice, avarice and bigotry.
    Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 July 2025
  • The attempt to convert our publicly owned, protected state habitats into private enterprise is appalling avarice, as well as contempt for the public.
    Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • Tablets: Secrets of the Clay by Dunya Mikhail Sue Halpern For the Love of Money Sarah Wynn-Williams’s damning memoir of working at Facebook exposes the predatory cupidity of the company’s executives.
    Rachel Nolan, The New York Review of Books, 9 May 2025
  • Pilgrimage, though couched in spiritual aims, often bordered on sheer cupidity.
    Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023
Noun
  • In recent books, French has borrowed elements of the western genre to explore corporate rapacity in the era of climate change and looked at life in a small Irish village with the ear to both insider and outsider.
    Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Or consider the explorers who left a cold and hungry Europe in search of tropical riches, only to realize that their own rapacity could quickly exhaust the bounty of an island paradise.
    Deborah R. Coen, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Materialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/materialism. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on materialism

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!