myopia

noun my·o·pia \ mī-ˈō-pē-ə \

Updated on: 27 Feb 2018

Definition of myopia

1 : a condition in which the visual images come to a focus (see ¹focus 4) in front of the retina of the eye resulting especially in defective vision of distant objects

She wears glasses to correct her myopia.

2 : a lack of foresight or discernment : a narrow view of something

… those require long-term commitments, which in our current myopia we cannot take on.
—Adam Smith

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Examples of myopia in a Sentence

She wears eyeglasses to correct her myopia.

Recent Examples of myopia from the Web

Liberals have long been accused of self-sabotage through excessive infighting, inadequate strategizing and voter myopia.

— sarah begley, Time, "These Books Offer Blueprints for the Resistance," 25 Jan. 2018
His inflexibility during the former and myopia in the latter were astonishing for a man of Arena’s experience and perhaps can be explained only as the product of hubris.

— brian straus, SI.com, "Bruce Arena's New Legacy and its Impact on the Future of the USMNT," 13 Oct. 2017
Those jokes are still pretty good, even if Will and Grace and their myopia are the punchline.

— willa paskin, Slate Magazine, "Because now it’s a sharp comedy about white, moneyed, liberal hypocrisy.," 28 Sep. 2017
This was a confusion wrought by complexity, not myopia, errant assumptions or enslavement to group think.

— james warren, The Hive, "How Roy Moore Cured the Media’s Election-Night P.T.S.D.," 13 Dec. 2017
This myopia is part of a pattern that will repeat itself often in this series.

— farhad manjoo, New York Times, "The Frightful Five Want to Rule Entertainment. They Are Hitting Limits.," 11 Oct. 2017
Root causes are pushed aside; myopia rules the day.

— david dayen, New Republic, "These Are Not Acts of God," 3 Oct. 2017
Such single-issue myopia takes precious attention away from policies that could improve our ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

— roger pielke jr., WSJ, "The Hurricane Lull Couldn’t Last," 31 Aug. 2017
Sure, white people are bland and naive—how about tackling their willful blindness and myopia?

— steve heisler, Chicago Reader, "In its new revue, Second City skewers Trump with Pixy Stix," 2 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'myopia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of myopia

New Latin, from Greek myōpia, from myōp-, myōps

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1654

See Words from the same year

Other Physiology Terms

eructation, flux, gustatory, menarche, senescence, torpor

MYOPIA Defined for English Language Learners

myopia

noun

Definition of myopia for English Language Learners

medical : a condition of the eye that makes it difficult to see objects that are far away

Medical Dictionary

myopia

noun my·o·pia \ mī-ˈō-pē-ə \

medical Definition of myopia

: a condition in which the visual images come to a focus in front of the retina of the eye because of defects in the refractive media of the eye or of abnormal length of the eyeball resulting especially in defective vision of distant objects — called also nearsightedness; compare astigmatism 2, emmetropia