anthropodicy

an·thro·po·di·cy
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UK/ˌænθɹəʊˈpɒdɪsi/US/ˌænθɹoʊˈpɑdɪsi/

noun

An attempt, or an argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good despite the commission of evil acts by some people.

Scrabble 23

Meanings

nounanthropodicy (countable and uncountable, plural anthropodicies)

plural anthropodicies

  1. countableuncountableChristianityAn attempt, or an argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good despite the commission of evil acts by some people.
    1 more example

    [T]he next two [devices or arguments] urge that these distresses are the prices paid for certain compensating advantages to the animals, notably existence. I have some difficulty believing that they are seriously intended, for they would, without alteration, justify the vilest imaginable human slavery and oppression. Nor is it generally true nowadays—though once it was—that those who offer such anthropodicies are much impressed by them in their original form, as theodicy.

    1977, Stephen R[ichard] L[yster] Clark, “Devices of the Heathen”, in The Moral Status of Animals, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 59

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*deyḱ-“to point out”
  2. Ancient Greekδῐ́κη“justice; judgment, order; law; right”
  3. Pre-Greek
  4. Ancient Greekἄνθρωπος“human being, person; all human beings, mankind”
  5. Englishanthropodicy

Blend of anthropo- (prefix meaning ‘human beings, people’) + theodicy (“justification of a deity or of particular attributes of a deity; specifically, a justification of the existence of evil and suffering in the world”). Anthropo- is derived from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human being, person; all human beings, mankind”), ultimately possibly Pre-Greek; while the -dicy element of theodicy is from Ancient Greek δῐ́κη (dĭ́kē, “justice; judgment, order; law; right”), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to point out”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Anthropodizee
  • Anthropodizeeattempt, or argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good
Portuguese antropodiceia
  • antropodiceiaattempt, or argument attempting, to justify that human beings are fundamentally good

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

anthropodicy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthropodicy

MLA

“anthropodicy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthropodicy. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anthropodicy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anthropodicy.

Source: anthropodicy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.