Word.ws English Dictionary

relativism

relativism noun: the theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.

Noun

relativism (countable and uncountable, plural relativisms)

  1. (uncountable) The theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.
    • We thus reach a position of extreme relativism: different 'truths' may be useful in different historical situations, and it is quite possible that any truth is valid only for a particular epoch or social class.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...
  2. (countable) A specific such theory, advocated by a particular philosopher or school of thought.
    • Following Gilbert Harman’s lead, my own formulation of relativism about the normative domain was based on the classic examples of thoroughgoing relativisms drawn from physics.2008, Paul Boghossian, “Replies to Wright, MacFarlane and Sosa”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 141, number 3, page 413

relativism meaning in Urdu, Arabic and Malay

relativism in Urdu

علاقیت, نسبتیت

relativism in Arabic

theory that truth and moral values are relative
نِسْبَوِيَّة nisbawiyya

relativism in Malay

theory that truth and moral values are relative
relativisme, nisbiah

Examples of relativism in a sentence

  • Double standards could be thought of as Satanic in the context of moral relativism.
  • Trying to overcome anthropocentrism ends in moral relativism, same as with nationalism and ethnocentrism.
  • Pedocentrism of this type necessarily leads to moral subjectivism and relativism.

All 10 example sentences with relativism

Forms of relativism

pluralrelativisms

Origin of relativism

From relative + -ism.

Words formed from relativism

Questions about relativism

What does relativism mean?
Relativism means the theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.
What is relativism in Urdu?
Relativism in Urdu is علاقیت, نسبتیت. See Relativism meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is relativism?
Relativism is a noun.
What is the plural of relativism?
The plural of relativism is relativisms.

Words near relativism in the dictionary

  1. relativised
  2. relativiser
  3. relativisers
  4. relativises
  5. relativising
  6. relativism
  7. relativisms
  8. relativist
  9. relativistic
  10. relativistic mass
  11. relativistic masses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: relativism (page history and authors); relativism (Urdu 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.

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