Consumerist

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Emphasizing the pursuit and ownership of goods as a central aspect of lifestyle, this mindset fosters a culture where material wealth is prioritized over other values
2. This perspective promotes a societal framework that encourages individuals to engage in continual consumption driven by personal gratification and economic prosperity
3. Pertaining to an ideology that prioritizes acquiring and using goods frequently as a key element of daily life

Etymology: The surprising part of this word is how little its meaning has to do with its ancestry. "Consumer" comes from Latin "consumere," built from "com-" (together, thoroughly) and "sumere" (to take up), so the older sense was to use up or waste entirely. That sense survives in "consume" as "to eat or burn up," and only later did "consumer" come to mean a person who buys and uses goods. "Consumerist" is simply "consumer" plus the suffix "-ist," which in English marks a person who follows or favors something. Its ancestry runs through Latin "-ista" and Greek "-istēs," the same pattern found in "artist" or "cyclist." The adjective form, which describes a philosophy or society built around buying, is a later extension of that agent-noun base rather than an independent coinage.

Synonyms: materialist, acquisitive

Antonyms: altruistic, philanthropic