Word family noun material materialism materialist materials materialization adjective material immaterial materialistic materialist verb materialize adverb materialistically materially
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmaterialismma‧te‧ri‧al‧is‧m /məˈtɪəriəlɪzəm $ -ˈtɪr-/ noun [uncountable] 1 GREEDYthe belief that money and possessions are more important than art, religion, moral beliefs etc – used to show disapproval a reaction to a world full of shallow materialism2 RPthe belief that only physical things really exist —materialist adjective materialist philosophy —materialist noun [countable] We confess to being hopeless materialists, surrounded by our own cool stuff.Examples from the Corpus
materialism• Our high desires for spiritual reality are transmuted into the sordid quest for consumerism and materialism.• In these lovely days, still unspoilt by materialism and television, there was always a singer.• Graham also encouraged people to turn away from materialism and instead focus on what he said really matters: the spiritual.• His main target was vanity, and how materialism has put a brake on the human race.• As such, it competes with other metaphysical theories like materialism.• This criticism of materialism is seen in all his teaching.• What a challenge to a life that is caught in the whirlpool of materialism!• In all these respects, materialism functions just like theism, as one competing metaphysical scheme amongst others. 