Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to the Manicheans.
- n. One of a religious body, adherents of Mani, Manes, or Manichæus, a native of Persia or some neighboring country, in the third century. Its doctrines and features were derived from Gnostic, Buddhistic, Zoroastrian, and various other sources. These it attempted to combine with Christianity, and it is generally classed among Gnostic sects. Its theology was dualistic, representing the conflict between light and darkness, and including belief in the inherent evil of matter. Its morality was professedly ascetic, but profligacy of life and cruel or immoral ceremonial were generally attributed to it in both its earlier and its later forms. It had an organized priesthood, and recognized a distinction between its esoteric class (the “elect” or “perfect”) and the “hearers.” It originated in Persia, but soon extended into the Roman empire, and existed as late as the seventh century. The Paulicians, Albigenses. Catharists, etc., developed it into new forms, retaining many of its features, and hence were styled “New Manicheans.” The title Manichean, or New Manichean, was an epithet used opprobriously in the controversies of the middle ages.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. of or relating to Manichaeism
- n. an adherent of Manichaeism
Examples
“He thought that God was here to -- maybe to lead the forces of good against the forces of evil, a kind of manichean view that the world is divided between good and evil.”
“To put it even more simply, Brezinski depicts the "manichean" view of neocons as "old" and his own bitterly cynical and corrupt accommodation with obvious evil as "young.”
“Whether that’s because conservatives are more susceptible than liberals to the kind of manichean narrative that Rush spins, or whether radio networks don’t want progressive radio to succeed, or whether Rush is just a genius at radio, who knows?”
“His use of the word "evil" drew scads of controversy and, for his critics, typified the manichean view Bush took on foreign policy.”
“Seems to me STORMy is just projecting his own manichean perspective onto the President, with no supporting evidence behind his belief.”
“As Jonathan Chait writes in his review of the new book by the American Enterprise Institute's Arthur Brooks, while conservatives want to believe they're a part of some manichean struggle between the forces of capitalism and statism, conservatives and liberals are actually both seeking some degree of balance between market and state.”
“Mathhew, however, tends to get all manichean when people who have differeng political views lie, because he is convinced that they are evil.”
Matthew Yglesias » Americans Support Health Reform, Reject Policies to Make Health Reform Workable
“The Republican dogmatic manichean cultural warriors ruthlessly purged their Pragmatists with a fervor worthy of Mao years ago.”
Obama On Rick Warren Pick: We Have To Be Able To Agree To Disagree
“Absolutely true, but at least our dogmatic manichean cultural warriors at least still talk to us.”
Obama On Rick Warren Pick: We Have To Be Able To Agree To Disagree
“People are complicated and manichean thinking is for Republicans and Sith lords.”
Obama On Rick Warren Pick: We Have To Be Able To Agree To Disagree
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘manichean’.
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Dead (or dying) English Words
Inspired by the an old New York Times article and the Dictionary of Dying Danish Words list here on Wordie.
chorine, terpsichore, motorcar, motoring, centigrade, maven, tautology, pleonasm, contrariwise, spatchcock, mascaron, miasma and 29 more...
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Hitch Words
Words from the lexicon of Christopher Hitchens
propinquity, fratricide, factitious, vitiate, sectarianism, ostensible, atavistic, sephardic, doyen, palpable, encephalitic, fastidious and 188 more...
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strieale's Words
scientism, chronological, christophobia, subsurface, high culture, jeffersonian demo..., jacksonian democracy, incommensurable, rebuttal, discerning, disparate, anodyne and 156 more...
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suzyg's Words
brandish, recompence, shopping, dichotomy, paradigm, reverse osmosis, anyway, despite, drunk, degenerate, insipid, grateful and 438 more...
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Words/Phrases that have crossed my path
palanquin, rhapsodical, cacology, sylvan, veranda, lithe, spittoon, aptronym, retronym, purloin, blithe, diaeresis and 134 more...
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Miscellany, pt. m
mysticete, muisvoël, myography, myospasm, mereswine, melanagogue, misdeedy, malerisch, maquette, mise-en-page, miserabilism, mournival and 26 more...
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Glurble's Words
pinguid, refulgence, parenthetical, goluptious, oleaginous, schadenfreude, metasyntactic, plethysmograph, pellucid, manichean, cthulhu, prognathous and 2 more...
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Holy
eschatological, chthonic, sacrosanct, numen, ecclesiastical, liturgy, praxis, exegesis, hagiography, theodicy, cataphatic, apophatic and 15 more...
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diderot
a foray
postlapsarian, psychopomp, tetragram, qliphoth, sephiroth, syncretism, gnosis, boustrophedon, syncopation, synchronicity, diaphanous, vicissitude and 21 more...
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While reading
littoral, manichean, omerta, opprobrium, discomfit, betise, tittle, pellucid, chiffonier, hagiographic, essoin, raiment and 35 more...
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My Idiosyncratic Jargon
I have my own vocabulary filled up by these seemingly off-kilter terms/expressions/interjections/intensifiers. I hated my frenemies (a.k.a. classmates who kept copying my idiosyncratic diction) for...
batshitcrazy, frakkin, manichean, terpsichore, opprobrium, ignominy, alacrity, tautology, pleonasm, opprobriously, Sisyphean, schadenfreude and 35 more...
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hagendas early favorites
gregarious, incredulous, onomatopoeia, loquacious, quixotic, ammazzacaffè, exsanguinating, buffalo, indefatigable, doppelgänger, wassail, coulrophobia and 57 more...
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SPELLINGB's list
ENDEMIC, SECESSION, FULMINATE, MALFEASANCE, TURPITUDE, INVECTIVE, PARTISANSHIP, ACRIMONYD, DETENTE, PERFIDY, DEFICIT OF DECENCY, BELLIGERENCE, ISOPLATIONISM, CABAL, ACQUIESCENCE, AMORPHOUS, AMALGAM...
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