as in idealism
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Recent Examples of meliorism
Under their malign sway, as cost-benefit analysis became codified in government bureaus and standards of jurisprudence, previously bold Democrats reduced their dreams for betterment to feeble meliorism.
—
Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022
Goodhart reckons the positional nature of status — man’s envy plays a part in this puzzle, mind you — and the kind of economic meliorism that the center-left of his formative years applies to income inequality may fail to do the trick this time.
—Jorge González-Gallarza Hernández, National Review, 6 Dec. 2020
To its critics, this modesty and meliorism represent cowardice.
—Rosa Inocencio Smith, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2017
Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022
Goodhart reckons the positional nature of status — man’s envy plays a part in this puzzle, mind you — and the kind of economic meliorism that the center-left of his formative years applies to income inequality may fail to do the trick this time.
—Jorge González-Gallarza Hernández, National Review, 6 Dec. 2020
To its critics, this modesty and meliorism represent cowardice.
—Rosa Inocencio Smith, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meliorism
idealism
Noun
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There is Ned’s rich-kid idealism and the lengths Esmerelda goes to in her efforts to undermine him.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
3 Sep. 2025
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Adapted from an autobiographical novel by Frank Courtes, the film is in the trenches of Paul’s personal experience while retaining the perspective that most people who turn to Jobbing do so out of desperation rather than idealism.—
Sophie Monks Kaufman,
IndieWire,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Meliorism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meliorism. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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