hedonism

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂d-der. Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English hedonism From Ancient Greek ἡδονή (hēdonḗ, “pleasure”) + English -ism. First attested in 1856.

1. The philosophical belief that prioritizes happiness, particularly sensual pleasure as the highest good in life.

   “It began with his shrugging off of both family and faith and taking the Amtrak Vermonter out of Penn Station to major in minor hedonism and minor in the major modernists at a hippie college in the great Jewless north.”

2. A general devotion to the pursuit of pleasure.