Word · CEFR C2 · Frequency #12735
materialism
物质至上；拜金主义
A desire for wealth and material possessions, with little interest in ethical or spiritual values.
指追求财富和物质享受而忽视道德或精神价值；勿与哲学上的“唯物主义”混淆。
- 1.
Constant concern over material possessions and wealth; a great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.
对物质财富的持续关注；过度重视世俗事物
- 2.
The philosophical belief that nothing exists beyond what is physical.
哲学上认为只有物质存在,别无他物
唯物主义；唯物论；对物质财富的持续关注；过度重视世俗事物；哲学上认为只有物质存在,别无他物；唯物主义
In use
In today's lecture, the professor explained how materialism shaped modern physics.
The two philosophers had a long argument about materialism and the existence of the soul.
According to materialism, nothing exists except matter and its movements.
the materialism of [era/society]
此结构多用于谈论社会风气，含批评意味。
The materialism of modern society often gets blamed for rising inequality.
现代社会的物质至上常被归咎于日益严重的不平等。
materialism about [domain]
在哲学讨论中，about 后接所述对象，如 the mind、consciousness。
Materialism about the mind is a major view in the philosophy of mind.
关于心灵的唯物主义是心灵哲学中的一种主要观点。
Connections
Collocations
- historical materialism
- 历史唯物主义
- Historical materialism argues that economic conditions shape society.历史唯物主义认为经济条件塑造社会。
- dialectical materialism
- 辩证唯物主义
- Dialectical materialism was developed by Marx and Engels.辩证唯物主义由马克思和恩格斯创立。
- philosophical materialism
- 哲学唯物主义；唯物论
- Philosophical materialism claims that matter is the only reality.哲学唯物主义主张物质是唯一的实在。
- crass materialism
- 庸俗的物质主义；赤裸裸的拜金主义
- The film satirizes the crass materialism of the rich.这部电影讽刺了富人庸俗的物质主义。
- rampant materialism
- 泛滥的物质主义；盛行的拜金主义
- Rampant materialism has turned the holiday season into a shopping frenzy.泛滥的物质主义使假日季变成了购物狂潮。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
由 material（物质）+ ism（主义）构成：想象眼中只有金银财宝，把物质当成唯一信仰，就是 materialism。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：社会评论与新闻报道、哲学与理论讨论 作‘物质至上/拜金主义’讲时，多用于社会评论或新闻报道，语气常含批评；作哲学义‘唯物主义’时，通常用于学术写作或理论讨论，语气正式。具体含义需靠上下文判断。
Grammar Note
复数形式 materialisms 一般只用于哲学/理论讨论，指不同的唯物主义流派或体系，日常表达中很少出现。
Pronunciation & Spelling
No common English word rhymes exactly with /məˈtiəriəlizm/ because its stressed vowel and the following /riəlizm/ sounds are distinctive. The words above all end in the spelling -ism, but their stress falls earlier and the suffix sounds like /-ɪzəm/, so they are spelling lookalikes, not sound matches. In particular, realism and idealism look similar to materialism but sound quite different: /ˈriːəlɪzəm/ and /aɪˈdiːəlɪzəm/.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY.