scientism
noun
sci·en·tism
ˈsī-ən-ˌti-zəm 
1
: methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to the natural scientist
Examples of scientism in a Sentence
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The technical psychiatry and neurobiology of later times necessarily lacked Valéry’s poetry, and the poets themselves could never make good on his scientism without ceasing to write poetry.
—
Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
The line is straight out of eugenics, the deeply dishonest scientism that in the early 20th century convinced many people that criminality, poverty and a host of other ills were all inherited.
—Daniel Vergano, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2024
Since then, commentators of various political and religious persuasions have attributed to scientism a remarkably broad array of problems.
—Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 9 Sep. 2023
Perhaps most importantly, the American weight loss discourse must move away from a reflexive scientism, which has enabled biomedicine to subject the entirety of human experience to its single-minded scrutiny.
—WIRED, 15 Feb. 2023
These impulses began to seem like firm examples of scientism, a spiritual impoverishment in which one’s feelings and opinions hide behind a facade of false exactitude.
—Sasha Frere-Jones, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022
In an age of too much information, our preconceptions and priors take over to help us weed through explanations, and in an age of Victorian scientism, that means vampires aren’t an option.
—Jeremy Dauber, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2022
But Gandhi, deeply hostile to scientism and industrialism, actually advocated the re-creation of self-sufficient village communities.
—Pankaj Mishra, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2013
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Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
The line is straight out of eugenics, the deeply dishonest scientism that in the early 20th century convinced many people that criminality, poverty and a host of other ills were all inherited.
—Daniel Vergano, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2024
Since then, commentators of various political and religious persuasions have attributed to scientism a remarkably broad array of problems.
—Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 9 Sep. 2023
Perhaps most importantly, the American weight loss discourse must move away from a reflexive scientism, which has enabled biomedicine to subject the entirety of human experience to its single-minded scrutiny.
—WIRED, 15 Feb. 2023
These impulses began to seem like firm examples of scientism, a spiritual impoverishment in which one’s feelings and opinions hide behind a facade of false exactitude.
—Sasha Frere-Jones, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022
In an age of too much information, our preconceptions and priors take over to help us weed through explanations, and in an age of Victorian scientism, that means vampires aren’t an option.
—Jeremy Dauber, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2022
But Gandhi, deeply hostile to scientism and industrialism, actually advocated the re-creation of self-sufficient village communities.
—Pankaj Mishra, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2013
Cite this Entry
“Scientism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientism. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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