anti-materialism

noun

an·​ti-ma·​te·​ri·​al·​ism

ˌan-tē-mə-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌli-zəm,

ˌan-tī- 

variants or less commonly antimaterialism

: opposition to materialism

Anti-communism was a favorite subject of the 1950s, he said, but so, to his surprise, was anti-materialism.

—Gayle White

Anyone of a certain age will recall that dumpster diving first became a lifestyle choice in the 1960s as part of the decade's brief flirtation with antimaterialism …

—Janna Malamud Smith

anti-materialist adjective

or less commonly antimaterialist

ˌan-tē-mə-ˈtir-ē-ə-list,

ˌan-tī- 

anti-materialist values

anti-materialistic adjective

or less commonly antimaterialistic

ˌan-tē-mə-ˌtir-ē-ə-ˈli-stik,

ˌan-tī- 

The absence of money values may be partly caused by the vague anti-materialistic sentiments of the sorts of young college graduates who choose Washington over New York and Los Angeles.

—Michael Lewis

Examples of anti-materialism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The tone was set by his choice of opening act, a group that does nothing but anti-materialism message music: Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. —Chris Willman, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025

Peasant sects promoted exotic beliefs and practices, including anti-materialism, self-flagellation, and self-castration. —Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for anti-materialism

• antiquarianism
• congregationalism
• constitutionalism
• cosmopolitanism
• electromagnetism
• environmentalism
• epicureanism
• evangelicalism
• experimentalism
• hyperparathyroidism
• hypoparathyroidism
• individualism