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hedonism

Definitions of Hedonism

  1. (noun) The pursuit of pleasure; historically coupled with a belief that pursuit connected one with divine realms.
  2. (noun) Acts, practices and ideas associated with the pursuit of pleasure.

Hedonism Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: he·don·ism

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /hEE-duh-niz-uhm/
  • British English – /hEE-duh-ni-zuhm/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈhidnˌɪzəm/
  • British English – /ˈhɛdənɪz(ə)m/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: hedonisms
  • Hedonism is opposed to asceticism.
  • A (noun) hedonist pursues hedonism for (adjective) hedonistic or (adjective) hedonic pleasure.

Additional Information

Related Terms

Works Consulted

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Hedonism

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hedonism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/hedonism/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

hedonism. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/hedonism/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hedonism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/hedonism/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“hedonism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/hedonism/>.