messianism
noun
mes·si·a·nism
ˈme-sē-ə-ˌni-zəm 
mə-ˈsī-ə-,
me-
1
: belief in a messiah as the savior of humankind
2
: religious devotion to an ideal or cause
Examples of messianism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There is also the classic Cronenberg archetype: the technology guru who hard-sells scientific progress as humankind’s salvation but is in fact consumed by his own greedy messianism.
—
Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
In his famous book The Russian Idea (1946), the philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev argued that Bolshevism owes as much to Russian messianism as to Marx.
—Gary Saul Morson, The New York Review of Books, 1 Feb. 2024
The question is: For how much longer will ordinary Russians be receptive to Putinism, Russian messianism, and the state’s increasingly flimsy justifications for using military power?
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
The singularity is digital messianism, as found in various strains of Judeo-Christian eschatology—a pretty basic onscreen Revelation.
—Stephen Marche, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2022
But there was also an element of historical messianism in Putin’s thinking, a pseudo-philosophical strain that ran far deeper than concerns over Western armaments.
—The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2022
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Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
In his famous book The Russian Idea (1946), the philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev argued that Bolshevism owes as much to Russian messianism as to Marx.
—Gary Saul Morson, The New York Review of Books, 1 Feb. 2024
The question is: For how much longer will ordinary Russians be receptive to Putinism, Russian messianism, and the state’s increasingly flimsy justifications for using military power?
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
The singularity is digital messianism, as found in various strains of Judeo-Christian eschatology—a pretty basic onscreen Revelation.
—Stephen Marche, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2022
But there was also an element of historical messianism in Putin’s thinking, a pseudo-philosophical strain that ran far deeper than concerns over Western armaments.
—The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Messianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/messianism. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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