ersatzism

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noun

The doctrine that only one concrete world exists, and all other possible worlds are abstract.

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Meanings

nounersatzism (uncountable)
  1. uncountablemetaphysicsThe doctrine that only one concrete world exists, and all other possible worlds are abstract.

    One of Lewis’s challenges to linguistic ersatzism focuses on the inelimanibility^([sic]) of modality in connecting different levels of ontological description.

    2026 April 25, (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 140, number 1, →DOI

Origin

From ersatz + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

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Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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