nonmaterialist
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🇺🇸
/ˌnɑn.məˈtɪriəlɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˌnɒn.məˈtɪəriəlɪst/
not materialistic; rejecting materialism
Etymology
'nonmaterialist' is formed by the negative prefix 'non-' + the noun 'materialist'. 'Materialist' comes from 'material' + the agent suffix '-ist'; 'material' traces to Latin 'materialis' from 'materia' meaning 'matter'.
'material' originated from Latin 'materia' ('matter'), passed into Old French and then Middle English as 'material'; 'materialist' was coined in English by combining 'material' + '-ist' (used in philosophical contexts from the 18th–19th centuries). The prefix 'non-' was later attached to create 'nonmaterialist' as a negated form.
Originally 'material' and 'materialist' referred to 'matter' and supporters of matter-centered explanations; over time the negated form 'nonmaterialist' came to mean either a person who devalues material possessions or (in philosophy) someone who holds that not all reality is material.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who rejects materialism or places little value on material possessions; someone who values spiritual, intellectual, or experiential aspects of life over physical goods.
As a nonmaterialist, she preferred travel and learning over buying expensive items.
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Adjective 1
relating to or characteristic of nonmaterialism; not focused on material things or materialist explanations (often used in philosophical contexts to describe views that deny that everything is purely material).
His nonmaterialist outlook led him to study consciousness as something not fully explainable by physical processes.
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Last updated: 2025/11/04 08:27