hedonism

hedonism

English

WOTD – 2 September 2006

Etymology

First attested 1856: from Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”) +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hĕdənĭzəm, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdənɪzəm/
• (General American) enPR: hēdənĭzəm, IPA^(key): /ˈhiːdənɪzəm/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Hyphenation: he‧don‧ism

Noun

hedonism (usually uncountable, plural hedonisms)

1. (ethics, uncountable) The belief that pleasure or happiness is the highest good in life. Some hedonists, such as the Epicureans, have insisted that pleasure of the entire mind, not just pleasure of the senses, is the highest good.
2. (countable) A general devotion to the pursuit of pleasure.

Antonyms

• asceticism

Related terms

• hedonic
• hedonics
• hedonist
• hedonistic
• hedonistically

Translations

philosophy

Arabic: مَذْهَب اَللِّذَّة‎ m (maḏhab al-liḏḏa) Asturian: hedonismu m Belarusian: гедані́зм m (hjedanízm) Catalan: hedonisme (ca) m Cebuano: hedonismo Chinese: Mandarin: 享樂主義／享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglèzhǔyì) Czech: hédonismus (cs) m, hedonismus m Danish: hedonisme (da) c Dutch: hedonisme (nl) n, genotzucht (nl) f or m, epicurisme (nl) n Esperanto: hedonismo Estonian: hedonism (et) Finnish: hedonismi (fi) French: hédonisme (fr) m Galician: hedonismo m Georgian: ჰედონიზმი (ka) (hedonizmi) German: Hedonismus (de) m Hebrew: הֶדוֹנִיזְם‎ (he) m (hedonism) Hungarian: hedonizmus (hu) Icelandic: hedónismi m Irish: héadónachas m Italian: edonismo (it) m Japanese: 快楽主義 (かいらくしゅぎ, kairakushugi) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: zewqyarî f, hedonîzm f Polish: hedonizm (pl) m Portuguese: hedonismo (pt) m Romanian: hedonism (ro) n Russian: гедони́зм (ru) m (gedonízm) Serbo-Croatian: хедонизам m, hedonizam (sh) m Spanish: hedonismo (es) m Swedish: hedonism (sv) c Turkish: hedonizm (tr), hazcılık (tr) Ukrainian: гедоні́зм m (hedonízm)

devotion to the pursuit of pleasure

Cebuano: hedonismo Chinese: Mandarin: 享樂主義／享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglèzhǔyì) Finnish: hedonismi (fi) German: Genußsucht (de) f, Genusssucht (de) f Hungarian: hedonizmus (hu)

See also

• debauchery

Further reading

• hedonism in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• hedonism at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• demonish, monished, Sondheim

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Romanian

Etymology

From French hédonisme.

Noun

hedonism n (uncountable)

1. hedonism

Declension

declension of hedonism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) hedonism	hedonismul
genitive/dative	(unui) hedonism	hedonismului
vocative	hedonismule