Word.ws English Dictionary

consumerism

/kənˈsjumərɪzm̩//kənˈsumərɪzm̩/

consumerism noun: a materialistic attachment to possessions with a heavy use of consumables; a lifestyle based on such tendencies.

Noun

consumerism (countable and uncountable, plural consumerisms)

  1. A materialistic attachment to possessions with a heavy use of consumables; a lifestyle based on such tendencies.
    • The fear of corporatism, consumerism, middle-browism and a mass reading public has driven twentieth-century cultural hierarchists.1996, C. Bloom, Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory, page 113
    • Insatiable consumerism has blinkered our vision and left us unable to distinguish between what we need and what we merely want.2015 June 28, Paul Vallely, “The Pope's Ecological Vow”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021
  2. An economic theory that increased consumption is beneficial to a nation's economy in the long run.
  3. A policy or social movement of protecting and informing consumers through honesty in advertising and packaging, as well as improved safety standards, among other measures.

consumerism meaning in Urdu, Kannada, Arabic and Indonesian

consumerism in Urdu

economic theory
صارفیت sārifiyat, صارف پرستی sārif-parastī

consumerism in Kannada

ಗಿರಾಕಿ ಹಿತರಕ್ಷಣೆ, ಕೊಳ್ಳುಬಾಕ

consumerism in Arabic

economic theory
استهلاكية, نزعة استهلاكية

consumerism in Indonesian

economic theory
konsumerisme
More languagesFewer languages
consumerism in Persian
مصرفگرایی masraf-gerâyi

Examples of consumerism in a sentence

  • Yet I am actively involved in consumerism, triggered by my insecurities.2024 August 8, Angela Garbes, “Menopause tests and anti-ageing face oils: welcome to midlife consumerism”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived...
  • “It’s where cultural identity and cheap viral consumerism intersect,” D.2025 September 14, Alexander Nazaryan, quoting D. Andrew Price, “‘Freedom’ Shirt Becomes a Meme and an Instant Commodity”, in The New York...

All 16 example sentences with consumerism

Forms of consumerism

pluralconsumerisms

Origin of consumerism

From consumer + -ism.

Words formed from consumerism

Questions about consumerism

What does consumerism mean?
Consumerism means a materialistic attachment to possessions with a heavy use of consumables; a lifestyle based on such tendencies.
What is consumerism in Urdu?
Consumerism in Urdu is صارفیت (sārifiyat), صارف پرستی (sārif-parastī). See Consumerism meaning in Urdu.
How do you use consumerism in a sentence?
Yet I am actively involved in consumerism, triggered by my insecurities.
What part of speech is consumerism?
Consumerism is a noun.
How do you pronounce consumerism?
Consumerism is pronounced /kənˈsumərɪzm̩/ (US).
What is the plural of consumerism?
The plural of consumerism is consumerisms.

Words near consumerism in the dictionary

  1. consumer unit
  2. consumer units
  3. consumer-grade
  4. consumerdom
  5. consumerish
  6. consumerism
  7. consumerisms
  8. consumerist
  9. consumeristic
  10. consumeristically
  11. consumerists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: consumerism (page history and authors); consumerism (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-consumerism.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-consumerism.wav.

Cite this entry: “consumerism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/consumerism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.