Meliorism
n.hopeful, thoughtfulformal
What it means
The belief that purposeful human effort can make the world better.
Reach for it when naming a hopeful philosophy that expects neither automatic progress nor impossible perfection
Her meliorism appeared in patient reforms that made each clinic visit safer.
Choose between these
6- everyday
positive expectations about the future are central
not when Optimism may rely on hope alone, while meliorism requires effort.
- warm
possibility of a better outcome sustains action
not when Hope is an emotion or orientation and may persist without a theory of human agency.
- professional
gradualism
change proceeds through manageable steps
not when Gradualism describes pace and can serve goals that are not meliorist.
- professional
reformism
incremental institutional change is the chosen method
not when Reformism is a political strategy and does not necessarily express a general belief in improvement.
- formal
progressivism
social or political reform aims at improved conditions
not when Progressivism carries specific political histories and commitments.
- literary
perfectibilism
human beings are thought capable of indefinite moral improvement
not when Perfectibilism makes a much stronger claim than meliorism's practical improvability.
Said against
4- pessimism
- fatalism
- defeatism
- nihilism
It naturally appears in
3- practical meliorism
Practical meliorism led the group to test one reform at a time.
- spirit of meliorism
A spirit of meliorism kept criticism connected to workable proposals.
- democratic meliorism
Democratic meliorism trusts communities to improve institutions through participation.
Where this comes from
- wiktionary, English noun, belief that the world can be improved through effort sense opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.