Meanings
- uncountableThe belief that all difficulties have benign solutions, often of a technocratic nature.
Solutionism is just a belief that for every problem there exists a solution; and successful persons are those who solve problems.
1984, D. Philip Baker, The Library Media Program and the School, Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, →ISBN, page 542 more examples
So before we can embark on discussing the shortcomings of solutionism in areas like politics or crime prevention, it's worth getting a better grasp of the pernicious intellectual influence of Internet-centrism—a task we turn to in the next chapter.
2013, Evgeny Morozov, chapter 1, in To Save Everything, Click Here, →ISBNEvgeny Morozov defines this trend as solutionism: a normal problem-solving apparatus gone into overdrive (Morozov 2013). Thanks to ICTs, Morozov claims, new types of solutions that weren't possible a few years ago are now ready at hand.
2014, M. Berry, M. Schleser, Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones, Springer, →ISBN - uncountableThe providing of a solution or solutions to a customer or client (sometimes before a problem has been identified).
Origin
- Latinsolūtiō
- Latinsolūtiōnem
- Old Frenchsolucion
- Middle Englishsolucioun
- Englishsolution
- Englishsolutionism
Cite this entry
solutionism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solutionism
“solutionism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solutionism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “solutionism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/solutionism.
Source: solutionism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.