Hobbesian

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Hobbes (“a surname”) +‎ -ian; referring to the 17th century English author Thomas Hobbes, whose best-known work, Leviathan, describes a situation of unrestrained, selfish and uncivilized competition.

Adjective

Hobbesian (comparative more Hobbesian, superlative most Hobbesian)

  1. Involving unrestrained, selfish, and uncivilized competition among participants.
    • 1995, Fred Pfeil, White Guys: Studies in Postmodern Domination and Difference, page 150:
      In Hammett's writings, the social is constructed as a vast Hobbesian landscape of grim functionaries and desperate scrabblers […]
  2. (political philosophy) Relating to Thomas Hobbes or his philosophical theories.

Translations
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