INDIVIDUALISM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does individualism mean? 

• INDIVIDUALISM (noun)
  The noun INDIVIDUALISM has 3 senses:

1. the quality of being individual

2. a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence

3. the doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs

  Familiarity information: INDIVIDUALISM used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INDIVIDUALISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

individualism; individuality; individuation

Context example:

so absorbed by the movement that she lost all sense of individuality

Hypernyms ("individualism" is a kind of...):

trait (a distinguishing feature of your personal nature)

Attribute:

individual; single (being or characteristic of a single thing or person)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "individualism"):

singularity; uniqueness (the quality of being one of a kind)

distinctiveness; peculiarity; speciality; specialness; specialty (a distinguishing trait)

Derivation:

individualist (a person who pursues independent thought or action)

individualistic (marked by or expressing individuality)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("individualism" is a kind of...):

belief (any cognitive content held as true)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "individualism"):

rugged individualism (individualism in social and economic affairs; belief not only in personal liberty and self-reliance but also in free competition)

Derivation:

individualist (a person who pursues independent thought or action)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

individualism; laissez faire

Hypernyms ("individualism" is a kind of...):

doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)

Derivation:

individualistic (with minimally restricted freedom in commerce)

 Context examples 

As I said, I am an individualist, and individualism is the hereditary and eternal foe of socialism.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He did it that night, and he did it well; and since Martin had made the biggest stir, he put it all into his mouth and made him the arch-anarch of the show, transforming his reactionary individualism into the most lurid, red-shirt socialist utterance.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)