hedonism

English

WOTD – 2 September 2006

Etymology

First attested 1856: from Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”) +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• enPR: hĕdənĭzəm, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdənɪzəm/
• enPR: hēdənĭzəm, IPA^(key): /ˈhiːdənɪzəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

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• Hyphenation: he‧don‧ism

Noun

hedonism (usually uncountable, plural hedonisms)

1. (ethics, uncountable) The belief that pleasure or happiness is the highest good in life. Some hedonists, such as the Epicureans, have insisted that pleasure of the entire mind, not just pleasure of the senses, is the highest good.
2. (countable) A general devotion to the pursuit of pleasure.

Antonyms

• asceticism

Related terms

• hedonic
• hedonics
• hedonist
• hedonistic
• hedonistically

Translations

philosophy

• Arabic: مَذْهَب اَللِّذَّة m (maḏhab al-liḏḏa)
• Catalan: hedonisme (ca) m
• Cebuano: hedonismo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 享樂主義／享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglè zhǔyì), 享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglèzhǔyì)

• Czech: hédonismus (cs) m, hedonismus m
• Danish: hedonisme (da) c
• Dutch: hedonisme (nl) n, genotzucht (nl) f or m, epicurisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: hedonismo
• Finnish: hedonismi (fi)
• French: hédonisme (fr) m
• Georgian: ჰედონიზმი (ka) (hedonizmi)
• German: Hedonismus (de) m
• Hebrew: הֶדוֹנִיזְם (he) m (hedonism)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: hedónismi m
• Irish: héadónachas m
• Italian: edonismo (it) m
• Japanese: 快楽主義 (かいらくしゅぎ, kairakushugi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: zewqyarî f, hedonîzm f

• Polish: hedonizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: hedonismo (pt) m
• Romanian: hedonism (ro) n
• Russian: гедони́зм (ru) m (gedonízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: хедонизам m, hedonizam (sh) m
• Spanish: hedonismo (es) m
• Swedish: hedonism (sv) c
• Turkish: hedonizm (tr), hazcılık (tr)

devotion to the pursuit of pleasure

• Cebuano: hedonismo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 享樂主義／享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglè zhǔyì), 享乐主义 (zh) (xiǎnglèzhǔyì)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: hedonismi (fi)
• German: Genußsucht (de) f, Genusssucht (de) f

See also

• debauchery

Further reading

• “hedonism”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “hedonism”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• demonish, monished, Sondheim

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Romanian

Etymology

From French hédonisme.

Noun

hedonism n (uncountable)

1. hedonism

Declension

declension of hedonism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) hedonism	hedonismul
genitive/dative	(unui) hedonism	hedonismului
vocative	hedonismule