Hedonism

//ˈhɛdənɪzəm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The philosophical belief that happiness, particularly sensual pleasure, is the highest good in life. uncountable, usually

    "It began with his shrugging off of both family and faith and taking the Amtrak Vermonter out of Penn Station to major in minor hedonism and minor in the major modernists at a hippie college in the great Jewless north."

  2. 2
    an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good wordnet
  3. 3
    A general devotion to the pursuit of pleasure. countable, usually
  4. 4
    the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
altruistic ethicsappetiteappetitivenessaretaicsatomismcasuistry

Example

More examples

"The paradox of hedonism is that the pursuit of pleasure may not lead to the most pleasurable outcomes."

Etymology

First attested 1856: from Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”) + -ism.

Related phrases

psychological hedonism

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