Word.ws English Dictionary

anthropodicy

Syllables: an·thro·po·di·cy/ˌænθɹəʊˈpɒdɪsi/US/ˌænθɹoʊˈpɑdɪsi/

anthropodicy noun: an attempt, or an argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good despite the commission of evil acts by some people.

Noun

anthropodicy (countable and uncountable, plural anthropodicies)

  1. An attempt, or an argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good despite the commission of evil acts by some people.
    • [T]he next two [devices or arguments] urge that these distresses are the prices paid for certain compensating advantages to the animals, notably existence. I have some difficulty believing that they are seriously intended, for they would, without alteration, justify the vilest imaginable human...1977, Stephen R[ichard] L[yster] Clark, “Devices of the Heathen”, in The Moral Status of Animals, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 59

Forms of anthropodicy

pluralanthropodicies

Origin of anthropodicy

Blend of anthropo- (prefix meaning ‘human beings, people’) + theodicy (“justification of a deity or of particular attributes of a deity; specifically, a justification of the existence of evil and suffering in the world”). Anthropo- is derived from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human being, person; all human beings, mankind”), ultimately possibly Pre-Greek; while the -dicy element of theodicy is from Ancient Greek δῐ́κη (dĭ́kē, “justice; judgment, order; law; right”), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to point out”).

Questions about anthropodicy

What does anthropodicy mean?
Anthropodicy means an attempt, or an argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good despite the commission of evil acts by some people.
What part of speech is anthropodicy?
Anthropodicy is a noun.
How do you pronounce anthropodicy?
Anthropodicy is pronounced /ˌænθɹəʊˈpɒdɪsi/ (UK).
What is the plural of anthropodicy?
The plural of anthropodicy is anthropodicies.

Words near anthropodicy in the dictionary

  1. anthropocosmic
  2. anthropod
  3. anthropodenial
  4. anthropodermic
  5. anthropodicies
  6. anthropodicy
  7. anthropoeia
  8. anthropogenealogical
  9. anthropogenesis
  10. anthropogenetic
  11. anthropogenetically

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: anthropodicy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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