humanist

[ hyoo-muh-nistor, often, yoo- ]

noun

1. a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
2. a person devoted to or versed in the humanities.
3. a student of human nature or affairs.
4. a classical scholar.
5. (sometimes initial capital letter) any one of the scholars of the Renaissance who pursued and disseminated the study and understanding of the cultures of ancient Rome and Greece, and emphasized secular, individualistic, and critical thought.
6. (sometimes initial capital letter) a person who follows a form of philosophical or scientific humanism.

adjective

1. of or relating to human affairs, nature, welfare, or values:

   our humanist principles; a humanist approach to social reform.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) of or relating to the humanities or classical scholarship, especially that of the Renaissance humanists:

   humanist studies; the Humanist ideology of Petrarch.

3. of or relating to philosophical or scientific humanism:

   a humanist philosophy that clashed with his parents’ religious beliefs.

humanist

1. In the Renaissance , a scholar who studied the languages and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome ; today, a scholar of the humanities . The term secular humanist is applied to someone who concentrates on human activities and possibilities, usually downplaying or denying the importance of God and a life after death.

Other Words From

• human·isti·cal·ly adverb
• anti·human·ist noun adjective
• anti·human·istic adjective
• non·huma·nist noun
• nonhu·man·istic adjective
• pseudo·human·istic adjective
• quasi-human·istic adjective
• semi·human·istic adjective
• unhu·man·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of humanist¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French, French humaniste “classics scholar, classicist”; equivalent to human + -ist

Example Sentences

I used dépaysement when, as a humanist in a land of engineers, I asked unpopular questions about the emotional effects of digital technology.

From Time

Kato Mukasa, a lawyer who leads the AHCN and is the UHASSO chair, says a survey conducted between February 2018 and February 2020 shows the country has more than 3,000 humanists.

From Ozy

Scotland, for example, had more humanist weddings than Christian ones in 2019.

From Ozy

Giovanni Gaetani, membership engagement manager at the London-based Humanists International, which is funding projects to encourage humanist weddings and funerals in Uganda and Lithuania, says the popularity of such ceremonies is growing globally.

From Ozy

You have a bunch of humanists sort of generating hypotheses, but they don’t know exactly what’s possible.

From Time

“You almost saw a humanist as well as an absolute demonic side,” she says now.

From The Daily Beast

“There should be humanist alternatives to church in basic training,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Once, the humanist idea used to animate the very core of the university.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, liberals were attacked for their “secular humanist” ideology as opposed to their philosophy of governing.

From The Daily Beast

But if the religious Zionist youth movements are any indication, those values will be anything but universal or humanist.

From The Daily Beast

But if I were asked to describe myself in a single word, I should call myself a Humanist.

From Project Gutenberg

The Humanist remedy is to remove the causes which lead or drive men into crime, and so to prevent the manufacture of "sinners."

From Project Gutenberg

An anthology of the literature of social protest, with an introduction by Jack London, who calls it "this humanist Holy-book."

From Project Gutenberg

Or, to quote the famous humanist creed of Protagoras, as Schiller is so fond of doing, "Man is the measure of all things."

From Project Gutenberg

The humanist method must be extended to the whole subject-matter of education, even to a revaluation of knowing itself.

From Project Gutenberg