ultra-darwinism

noun

A belief system based heavily on Darwinism and evolutionism. Believers in it see Charles Darwin's work as vital, even all-encompassing, and usually see atheism as an implication of evolution.

Meanings

ultra-darwinism1

nounultra-darwinism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of ultra-Darwinism.

ultra-Darwinism2

nounultra-Darwinism (uncountable)

alternative ultraDarwinism · alternative ultra-darwinism · alternative ultradarwinism

  1. uncountableA belief system based heavily on Darwinism and evolutionism. Believers in it see Charles Darwin's work as vital, even all-encompassing, and usually see atheism as an implication of evolution.

    "Dawkins was a strong advocate of what became known as ultra-Darwinism, which (as a caricature at least) attempted to explain all of evolution with respect to genes."

    2017 April 17, Phil Madgwick, “Totalitarian Genesmanship I: on Superman’s sperm-count”, in Medium, archived from the original on 11 Dec 2019
    1 more example

    "On the one hand, we can embrace restrictive naturalism, and ultra-Darwinism, the no-nonsense, hard-nosed stance that accepts the limits of naturalistic explanation no matter the consequences, even if they include incoherence, rabid scepticism and the undermining of science."

    2011 June 24, Conor Cunningham, “Richard Dawkins the Neanderthal, and Darwin's pious idea”, in ABC News

Origin

From ultra- + Darwinism. Coined by Stephen Jay Gould.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ultra-darwinism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultra-darwinism

MLA

“ultra-darwinism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultra-darwinism. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ultra-darwinism,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultra-darwinism.

Source: ultra-darwinism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.