Sensationalism
noun
noun ·6 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The use of sensational subject matter, style or methods, or the sensational subject matter itself; behavior, published materials, or broadcasts that are intentionally controversial, exaggerated, lurid, loud, or attention-grabbing. Especially applied to news media in a pejorative sense that they are reporting in a manner to gain audience or notoriety but at the expense of accuracy and professionalism. countable, uncountable
"Newspaper articles also were generally positive in tone, although a tendency towards sensationalism means that the spread of hybrid forms is occasionally touted as the universal language of the future."
- 2 (philosophy) the doctrine that knowledge derives from experience wordnet
- 3 A theory of philosophy that all knowledge is ultimately derived from the senses. countable, uncountable
- 4 (philosophy) the ethical doctrine that feeling is the only criterion for what is good wordnet
- 5 the journalistic use of subject matter that appeals to vulgar tastes wordnet
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- 6 subject matter that is calculated to excite and please vulgar tastes wordnet
Example
More examples"Condillac, with sensationalism, revolutionised the concept of mind, making language and gesture prior to ideas, shattering Locke's conception of language as a mere passive medium."
Etymology
From sensational + -ism.
More for "sensationalism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.