Manichaean

plural Manichaeans · alternative Manichean · alternative archaic Manichæan · alternative dated Manichee

1. A follower of Manichaeism.

alternative Manichean · alternative archaic Manichæan · alternative dated Manichee

1. not comparableOf or relating to Manichaeism.

   Through them passed not only the traders of the Silk Route[…] but also lone Buddhist monks carrying precious cargoes of scrolls in their backpacks, white-robed Manichean sages from Iran and austere Nestorian clerics who founded Christian monasteries even in remote Tibet.

   1995 November 25, Michael Gibson, “The Treasures of a Lost Buddhist World”, in The International Herald Tribune, →ISSN

2. not comparableOf or concerning a Manichaean.

   Synonyms: Acuanite, Manichaic, Manichaist, Manichee

3. broadlynot comparableOf or relating to a worldview of distinct good and evil, especially to the exclusion of other possible categories.

   Once again, we see a Manichean world not unlike that of conspiracists: you can be good or you can be evil.

   2020, Marcus Gilroy-Ware, After the Fact?, Repeater, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Detractors of Mr. Nixon will decry the book's [1999: Victory Without War] obsession with potency and winning[…] as well as with a Manichaean view of a world that he sees as divided between the bad Soviet Union and the good United States.

   1988 April 11, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, “Strategy and Tactics to Win the Global Struggle”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Barack Obama spoke of a world without these Manichean dualities. He dismissed the notion of “red” and “blue” America.

   2008 June 8, Ana Marie Cox, “What Went Wrong | Divided She Fell”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

4. broadlynot comparableUsing light and dark to represent good and evil.