meliorism

Definition of meliorismnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of meliorism To its critics, this modesty and meliorism represent cowardice. Rosa Inocencio Smith, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2017 Goodhart reckons the positional nature of status — man’s envy plays a part in this puzzle, mind you — and the kind of economic meliorism that the center-left of his formative years applies to income inequality may fail to do the trick this time. Jorge González-Gallarza Hernández, National Review, 6 Dec. 2020 Under their malign sway, as cost-benefit analysis became codified in government bureaus and standards of jurisprudence, previously bold Democrats reduced their dreams for betterment to feeble meliorism. Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meliorism
idealism
Noun
  • But that, of course, is not usually, or even often, the actual case, and as her idealism falls by the wayside, the use of violence in pursuit of justice begins to make sense to her.
    Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 6 July 2026
  • Wilson believes that’s a myopic way to view his idealism.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Meliorism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meliorism. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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