noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˌfʌndəˈmentəlɪzəm/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:F AH2 N D AH0 M EH1 N T AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:F AH2 N D AH0 M EH1 N AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The tendency to reduce a religion to its most fundamental tenets, based on strict interpretation of core texts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bibliolatry
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A rigid conformity to any set of basic tenets.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The belief that fundamental financial quantities are the best predictor of the price of a financial instrument.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A Christian movement that started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants, which emphasizes literal interpretation of the Bible, and came up as a reaction to liberal theology and cultural modernism
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: lifestyle, religion, theology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
the interpretation of every word in the sacred texts as literal truth
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Protestantism
History
Etymology
From fundamental + -ism. First used in the 1910s by American Christians.
Across languages
Translations
70 source translations are retained for this English entry.
