'anti-materialistic' is formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Ancient Greek 'ἀντί' / 'anti-' meaning 'against') + 'materialistic', which derives from 'materialism' (from Latin 'materialis', from 'materia' meaning 'matter').

'materialis' in Latin gave rise to Old French and Middle English forms of 'material' and later the noun 'materialism' (French 'matérialisme') entered English; the adjective 'materialistic' was formed by adding the suffix '-istic', and the combining prefix 'anti-' was attached to create the compound 'anti-materialistic'.

Originally related to 'matter' or the philosophical doctrine that only matter exists ('materialism'), the element 'materialistic' came to be used also for valuing possessions and consumer goods; 'anti-materialistic' therefore came to mean opposing both the philosophical doctrine and, more commonly today, opposition to consumerism and the valuing of material possessions.