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privatistic

privatistic

8.9
Shows a focus on individual interests and personal ownership rather than shared public matters
  • adjective
  • /ˌpraɪvəˈtɪstɪk/
: privatista
  • The company's privatistic approach meant that it prioritized profit over community welfare.

Examples

  • Social consensus collapsed when the oil crisis of the mid-eighties made it difficult to hide class inequities and even more difficult to stem the tide of protests from those most affected by a state that claimed to be universalistic in its aims yet was privatistic in its practice: the urban, disenfranchised youth and women.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Scofield's 1909 edition focused on the public aspects of God's coming kingdom, while the 1967 edition is much more privatistic and individualistic in outlook.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Many people criticize the privatistic tendencies of society that ignore collective well-being.

  • Her privatistic views often led her to prioritize personal gain above public good.

Synonyms

private-enterprise
vsprivatistic
1 6.1

Relating to businesses owned and run by people or companies to make profit, not the state

focuses on personal life and interests not only economic systems
proprietarian
vsprivatistic
  • Formal
9.9

Supporting private ownership as central to society and the economy

emphasizes personal interests and life rather than only ownership focus

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

Open or available to everyone, not private

240 3.9

Shared by all members of a group acting together

How Private

privatistic
8.9
private
∞ 1.8
public
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

privatistic positive

Morphology

privatistic = private (transparent) = privat + istic

Standard adjectival formation from 'private' with orthographic loss of final 'e', yielding 'relating to private matters'.

Etymology

Privatistic comes from the root privat- ('private') and the ending -istic ('relating to'), and it is directly linked to the common word private. So, a privatistic attitude focuses on private life or private gain instead of the public good, like someone who keeps things behind a closed door.