Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to, of the nature of, or characterized by materialism, in any sense of that word.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to materialism or materialists; of the nature of materialism.
  • adjective Primarily concerned with material objects and worldly activities, as contrasted with spiritual, moral or philosophical concerns; especially, concerned primarily with gaining money and the things that money can buy.

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

  • adjective Being overly concerned with material possessions and wealth.
  • adjective Of or concerning philosophical materialism.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective marked by materialism
  • adjective conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Yet it would seem that such a proposition must be held by a materialist, or by what can be implied by the term "monist," used in its narrowest and most unphilosophic sense -- a sense which would be better expressed by the term materialistic-monist, with a limitation of the term matter to the terrestrial chemical elements and their combinations, _i. e._, to that form of substance to which the human race has grown accustomed -- a sense which tends to exclude ethereal and other generalisations and unknown possibilities such as would occur to a philosophic monist of the widest kind.

    Life and Matter A Criticism of Professor Haeckel's 'Riddle of the Universe' Oliver Lodge 1895

  • This, of course, made sensory qualities as experienced inexplicable in materialistic terms.

    September 13th, 2009 m_francis 2009

  • While their priorities initially differed, repeatedly talking about their financial goals got the couple focused on long-term planning versus shorter-term "materialistic needs," he says.

    The Financial Mistakes Newlyweds Make Veronica Dagher 2011

  • While their priorities initially differed, repeatedly talking about their financial goals got the couple focused on long-term planning versus shorter-term "materialistic needs," he says.

    The Financial Mistakes Newlyweds Make Veronica Dagher 2011

  • If we think of comfort as producing the highest type of manhood, so sure as we do, our spiritual power will lessen, our spiritual faculty will be atrophied, our spiritual speech will be degraded, and we shall talk in materialistic language which will really be a sign of decay rather than of power.

    Present Conditions in Great Britain 1921

  • B) Participation can’t be evaluated in materialistic terms, so it’s excluded from consideration.

    Angelical Participation? « Unknowing 2010

  • But feminism is not about an obligation to look like you're above what some might call materialistic things, because none of us are, really... if you dress down just to look smart, you're still compromising your own interests for the sake of what someone else finds suitable, when really the most subversive thing you can do as a girl is just do what you want.

    Catherine Epstein: Feminism and the 14-Year-Old: Tavi Gevinson Says Do What You Want Catherine Epstein 2010

  • I've heard our culture described as materialistic, but we don't seem to love the material world all that much.

    Thomas Moore: Redefining Education: Cultivating the Soul 2010

  • The so-called materialistic “American dream” will be dismantled, in the process.

    On the Importance of 'Us,' and Our Embracement Waiting in the Wings 2009

  • The so-called materialistic “American dream” will be dismantled, in the process.

    On the Importance of 'Us,' and Our Embracement Waiting in the Wings 2009

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