Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An advocate of essentialism
  • adjective Of or pertaining to essentialism

Etymologies

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Examples

  • And to me, she's very interesting because there is a school of -- of feminist thought today that is what we call essentialist and which believes that there is, somehow or other, an essential female or male psyche in -- in all of us.

    When Memory Speaks: Reflections on Autobiography 1998

  • So across the political spectrum, for anyone thinking in essentialist terms, the mores render the word anathema from both directions.

    Archive 2009-01-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • So across the political spectrum, for anyone thinking in essentialist terms, the mores render the word anathema from both directions.

    On Profanity: 3 Hal Duncan 2009

  • When I was at college the big no-no was this kind of essentialist thinking, in which biology was destiny.

    Women’s History Month « Tales from the Reading Room 2009

  • Creating what he calls " essentialist " cuisine, Mr. Vollmer takes a less-is-more approach with an emphasis on fresh ingredients.

    Dish: Avocado and caviar Jason Chow 2010

  • Justice Sotomayor's famous ­declaration — that a "wise Latina" will often come to a better judicial ruling than a white male — implies an ethnic-and-gender "essentialist" philosophy that is ­repugnant to Justice Kennedy's core individualism.

    The Decider 2009

  • I'm not sure that the "essentialist" approach that you are suggesting will work in practice, since there will always be someone who will make a case that their view, however much it departs from some "essential" or other, does better justice to some other aspect of the faith tradition.

    Keith Ward, Big Questions in Science and Religion 9: Has Science Made Belief in God Obsolete? James F. McGrath 2009

  • I am an "essentialist" in the sense that I am of the opinion that what constitutes the most authentic or "true" form of a new religion is what the founder preached and intended.

    Keith Ward, Big Questions in Science and Religion 9: Has Science Made Belief in God Obsolete? James F. McGrath 2009

  • I've been accused of being an "essentialist" on several feminist blogs, simply because I've pointed out the scientific evidence of sexual dimorphism in the brain.

    Neural Dimorphism and Discrimination Zoe Brain 2008

  • There are definitely variations in how individuals learn, but to suggest differences apply to an entire group reeks of the kind of essentialist thinking folks in the African-Canadian have spent years fighting.

    Nunc Scio » Blog Archive » The trouble with ‘afro-centric’ schools 2008

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