Meaning & use
traditionalism
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Meanings
noununcountable
The belief that old customs, values and ways of doing things should be kept and modern changes resisted.
Grammar: No plural and no article: say 'a return to traditionalism', not 'a traditionalism'.
Patterns
- a return to traditionalism
- religious traditionalism
- traditionalism in something
The party's rise was driven by a new traditionalism among older voters.
Her traditionalism shows in the way she insists on the same family rituals every year.
Some critics see traditionalism in education as a refusal to prepare students for a digital world.
noununcountableformal
A style in art, religion or philosophy that deliberately follows older forms and teachings rather than modern ones.
Grammar: Used mostly in academic writing about movements and schools of thought.
Patterns
- a strand of traditionalism
- Catholic traditionalism
- the traditionalism of something
The composer's late works show a surprising turn toward traditionalism.
His book traces traditionalism in Islamic law through three centuries.
The debate set modernism against traditionalism in early twentieth-century architecture.
Common combinations
- a return to traditionalism
- The 1980s saw a return to traditionalism in school curricula.
- religious traditionalism
- Religious traditionalism remains strong in rural areas.
- cultural traditionalism
- Cultural traditionalism can slow the adoption of new technology.
- a strand of traditionalism
- This is one strand of traditionalism within the movement.
- clash with traditionalism
- Reformers often clash with traditionalism inside their own party.
Synonyms and how they differ
- conservatism
- Broader and more political; it covers resistance to change in general, while traditionalism stresses loyalty to old customs and beliefs.
- orthodoxy
- Focuses on correct accepted doctrine, especially in religion, rather than on old customs as a whole.
- conventionalism
- Rare and more about following social conventions in behavior than about preserving a heritage.
Opposites
Word family
- tradition noun
- A custom or belief passed down through generations.
- traditional adjective
- Following or relating to long-established customs.
- traditionally adverb
- In the way that has long been usual.
- traditionalist noun
- A person who supports traditionalism.
- traditionalistic adjective
- Rare adjective meaning showing traditionalist attitudes.
Commonly confused: traditionalism or tradition? traditionalism or traditionalist?
traditionalism vs tradition
Tradition is one custom or belief; traditionalism is the belief that such customs should be preserved.
traditionalism vs traditionalist
Traditionalism is the idea; a traditionalist is the person who holds it.
Practice
The village's strong ______ made it hard for the new health clinic to change old practices.
Choose one answer.
'Traditionalism' fits because the sentence needs an uncountable noun for the belief in keeping old ways. 'Tradition' would mean one specific custom, not an attitude, and 'traditionalist' is a person, which cannot be 'strong' in this abstract sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “traditionalism”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.