Babbittry

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Narrow-minded materialism. uncountable

    "For most of this century, writers on the left have portrayed small cities as stifling enclaves of Babbittry and reaction, but today they are seen as refreshing oases from commercialized mass society—potential centers of community and local activism."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of babbittry. alt-of, alternative, uncountable

Example

More examples

"For most of this century, writers on the left have portrayed small cities as stifling enclaves of Babbittry and reaction, but today they are seen as refreshing oases from commercialized mass society—potential centers of community and local activism."

Etymology

From Babbitt + -ry, after the character in Sinclair Lewis' novel Babbitt.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.