'antipragmatism' is formed in modern English from the prefix 'anti-' (meaning 'against') + 'pragmatism' (the philosophical -ism derived from Greek 'pragma' meaning 'deed, thing').

'pragmatism' itself comes via New Latin and modern philosophical usage from Greek 'pragma' ('πρᾶγμα', 'deed, affair'); the suffix '-ism' was added in English in the 19th century to name the philosophical movement; 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-') was prefixed in modern English to create 'antipragmatism'.

Originally 'pragmatism' denoted assessing ideas by their practical effects; 'antipragmatism' later emerged to label stances explicitly opposed to that evaluative method, focusing instead on principles or theoretical criteria.