commercialism

noun

com·​mer·​cial·​ism kə-ˈmər-shə-ˌli-zəm How to pronounce commercialism (audio)
1
: commercial spirit, institutions, or methods
2
: excessive emphasis on profit
commercialist noun
commercialistic adjective

Examples of commercialism in a Sentence

the commercialism of modern society the increasing commercialism of the Christmas holiday
Recent Examples on the Web Yet many former residents of the GDR nonetheless feel nostalgia for its less stressful lifestyle, lack of commercialism, full employment, gender equality, low cost of living, sense of collective identity, social stability, and, interestingly, upward mobility. Katja Hoyer, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 Maybe there’s something to be said for its commercialism—is that weird? Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023 And despite her holiday album’s blatant commercialism, all is instantly forgiven because that voice remains unmatchable. Hal Rubenstein, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 Where city leaders and business groups see an economic boon to the region, conservation groups such as Keep Fort Ord Wild see creeping commercialism blighting a pristine environment. Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024 Plus, just the commercialism of the underground had kind of spoiled a lot of what was exciting back in the Sun City Girls days. Ryan Reed, SPIN, 29 Dec. 2023 Yet, there’s so much pressure to give in to the commercialism of the holidays. Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 15 Nov. 2023 No new technique is intrinsically dubious and each is a potential boon to artists, but, at the time, the hasty and ballyhooed deployment reeked of brazen commercialism. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023 And wasn’t avoiding commercialism the reason why Altman made OpenAI a nonprofit to begin with? Steven Levy, WIRED, 5 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commercialism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of commercialism was in 1849

Dictionary Entries Near commercialism

Cite this Entry

“Commercialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commercialism. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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