as in mercenary
having or marked by interest in material possessions as opposed to intellectual or spiritual things
His essay criticises the materialistic culture of today's world.
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Recent Examples of materialistic
There’s a growing group of modern-day families choosing to leave the materialistic world behind and become homesteaders—off the land and completely self-sufficient.
—
Megan Margulies, Outside Online, 16 July 2025
Jupiter showers her in materialistic clothes and jewelry, but Semele persists by pressing for answers.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 9 July 2025
But this framing backfired by coming across as legalistic and materialistic.
—Omar G. Encarnación, Time, 26 June 2025
Shifts from an agrarian community culture to materialistic urban industry left their mark.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for materialistic
Megan Margulies, Outside Online, 16 July 2025
Jupiter showers her in materialistic clothes and jewelry, but Semele persists by pressing for answers.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 9 July 2025
But this framing backfired by coming across as legalistic and materialistic.
—Omar G. Encarnación, Time, 26 June 2025
Shifts from an agrarian community culture to materialistic urban industry left their mark.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for materialistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for materialistic
Adjective
-
Black and his co-writers soften the cold mercenary side of Parker by giving him something of a moral compass, which prompts him to toss $10,000 to the stranger’s wife before fleeing the scene.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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Back when Dragon Ball Z was turning more Western audiences into anime fans, Berserk brought the tale of Guts and his mercenary adventures to startling life.—
Chris Snellgrove,
Entertainment Weekly,
27 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
So, pretty people and sunshine are a superficial symptom of something much deeper.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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Mark’s bond with another trainer, Bas Rutten (played by the real-life former wrestler and broadcaster Bas Rutten), is similarly superficial.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Polaha plays Dick Hall, the president of Meridian Mortgage who is taken hostage by Tony Kiritsis (Ribisi), who publicly accuses him on being a greedy and cutthroat monster.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
24 Sep. 2025
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Left-wing antisemitism, which cast Jews as greedy capitalists, existed as well, especially in France, but Jew-baiting remained primarily a right-wing pursuit, the work of illiberal nativists who saw a tiny minority as polluting the purity of their racial or religious communities.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Materialistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/materialistic. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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