fundamentalism

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/ˌfʌndəˈmentəlɪzəm/

noun

The tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts.

Less commonScrabble 22

Meanings

nounfundamentalism (countable and uncountable, plural fundamentalisms)

plural fundamentalisms

  1. countableuncountablelifestyleThe tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts.

    Synonyms: bibliolatry

  2. broadlycountableuncountableA rigid conformity to any set of basic tenets.
    1 more example

    Recent books by philosopher Roger Scruton (1999, 2000) and music educator Robert Walker (2007) may be interpreted as a last desperate gasp of this form of musical fundamentalism or neoconservativism—the kind that tells the masses what is "good for them" on the grounds that they lack adequate bases for judgments on their own […]

    2009, Thomas A. Regelski, J. Terry Gates, Music Education for Changing Times: Guiding Visions for Practice
  3. countableuncountablebusinessThe belief that fundamental financial quantities are the best predictor of the price of a financial instrument.
  4. countableuncountablelifestyleA Christian movement that started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants, which emphasizes literal interpretation of the Bible, and came up as a reaction to liberal theology and cultural modernism

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts.

Origin

From fundamental + -ism. First used in the 1910s by American Christians.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic أُصُولِيَّة
  • أُصُولِيَّة (ʔuṣūliyya)religion
Bengali মৌলবাদ
  • মৌলবাদ (mōulbad)religion
Bulgarian фундаментали́зъм
  • фундаментали́зъм (fundamentalízăm)religion
Catalan fonamentalisme, integrisme
  • fonamentalismereligion
  • integrismereligion
Chinese Mandarin 原教旨主義 /原教旨主义, 基要派
  • 原教旨主義 /原教旨主义 (yuánjiàozhǐzhǔyì)religion
  • 基要派 (jīyàopài)religion
Czech fundamentalismus
  • fundamentalismusreligion
Danish fundamentalisme
  • fundamentalismereligion
Dutch fundamentalisme
  • fundamentalismereligion
Estonian fundamentalism
  • fundamentalismreligion
Finnish fundamentalismi, fundamentalismi
  • fundamentalismifinance
  • fundamentalismireligion
French fondamentalisme, intégrisme
  • fondamentalismereligion
  • intégrismereligion
German Fundamentalismus
  • Fundamentalismusreligion
Greek φονταμενταλισμός
  • φονταμενταλισμός (fontamentalismós)religion
Hebrew פוּנְדָּמֶנְטָלִיזְם
  • פוּנְדָּמֶנְטָלִיזְם (fundamentalízm)religion
Hindi कट्टरतावाद
  • कट्टरतावाद (kaṭṭartāvād)religion
Hungarian fundamentalizmus
  • fundamentalizmusreligion
Icelandic bókstafstrú
  • bókstafstrúreligion
Indonesian fundamentalisme
  • fundamentalismereligion
Italian fondamentalismo, integralismo
  • fondamentalismoreligion
  • integralismoreligion
Japanese 原理主義, 根本主義
  • 原理主義 (genrishugi)religion
  • 根本主義 (konponshugi)religion
Korean 근본주의, 원리주의
  • 근본주의 (geunbonjuui)religion
  • 원리주의 (wollijuui)religion
Latin fundamentalismus
  • fundamentalismusreligion
Latvian fundamentālisms
  • fundamentālismsreligion
Lithuanian fundamentalizmas
  • fundamentalizmasreligion
Malay fundamentalisme
  • fundamentalismereligion
Māori angawhakapūtanga
  • angawhakapūtangareligion
Norwegian Bokmål fundamentalisme
  • fundamentalismereligion
Persian بنیادگرایی
  • بنیادگرایی (bonyâd-garâyi)religion
Polish fundamentalizm
  • fundamentalizmreligion
Portuguese fundamentalismo, fundamentalismo
  • fundamentalismofinance
  • fundamentalismoreligion
Romanian fundamentalism
  • fundamentalismreligion
Russian фундаментали́зм
  • фундаментали́зм (fundamentalízm)religion
Slovak fundamentalizmus
  • fundamentalizmusreligion
Spanish fundamentalismo
  • fundamentalismoreligion
Swedish fundamentalism
  • fundamentalismreligion
Thai มูลฐานนิยม
  • มูลฐานนิยม (muun-lá-tǎan-ní-yom)religion
Turkish köktendincilik, köktencilik
  • köktendincilikreligion
  • köktencilikreligion
  • fundamentalizmreligion
Ukrainian фундаменталі́зм
  • фундаменталі́зм (fundamentalízm)religion
Urdu بنیاد پرستی
  • بنیاد پرستی (boneyâd parasti)religion
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa cơ yếu
  • chủ nghĩa cơ yếureligion
Yiddish פֿונדאַמענטאַליזם
  • פֿונדאַמענטאַליזם (fundamentalizm)religion
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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