perfectionismn.
/pəˈfɛkʃn̩ɪz(ə)m/, /pəˈfɛkʃənɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /pərˈfɛkʃəˌnɪz(ə)m/ 1.
a. U.S. Church History. Chiefly with capital initial. The doctrine or belief of the Perfectionists; spec. that advocated by John Humphrey Noyes, founded on the two basic values of self-perfection and communalism. See perfectionist n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > social ethics > [noun] > perfectionism and its adherents
perfectionist1653
perfectionism1835
1835 Biblical Repertory Oct. 661 Doctrinal errors and fanatical delusions of the wildest kind have started into existence. The imposture of Matthias, and the perfectionism of New Haven, are monster-growths..of this same monster-trunk.
1870 Athenæum 5 Feb. 187 Oneida Creek Perfectionism.
1937 P. B. Noyes My Father's House 5 He spent his time and much of his fortune traveling about the country preaching ‘Perfectionism’.
1995 Grand Royal No. 2. 54/1 Noyes preached ‘Perfectionism,’ which stated that people could either perfect their love of Christ on Earth and go to Heaven, or fail to attain perfection and doom themselves to Hell.
b. gen. A system or doctrine based on the belief that moral, spiritual, social, or political perfection is attainable, or has been attained; the pursuit of such perfection as an ultimate goal.
ΚΠ
1882 Mind 7 359 The number of those who adopt the basis of Perfectionism, while clearly distinguishing it from that of Utilitarianism, is so small as to be safely neglected.
1890 Spectator 19 July Professor Dicey..does not arrive at his conclusions by any reference to abstract theories or appeals to political perfectionism.
1892 Academy 2 July 25/2 He [sc. Tolstoy] continues to develope his cherished ideas on the subject of perfectionism and self-improvement.
1957 P. Carrington Early Christian Church II. xxv. 446 A moral and spiritual perfectionism had given way during the second century to a harsh puritanism and a rigid legalism.
2000 Northeastern Polit. Sci. Assoc. (Nexis) 32 473 Moral perfectionism—the idea that we should direct our lives towards the attainment of some determinate ideal of moral excellence.
2. Refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > fastidiousness > [noun]
curiosityc1386
delicacya1393
curiousnessc1440
delicatesse1509
delicateness?1529
daintethness1548
exquisiteness?c1550
over-curiousness1573
featness1577
daintiness1579
dainty1590
finicality1594
niceness1604
squeamishness1654
fastidiousness1661
choicenessa1665
overnicety1664
finicalness1675
hypercriticism1678
overniceness1694
nicety1723
over-delicacy1745
daintihood1780
finickiness1833
finicism1844
over-criticism1859
overfineness1859
particularness1859
faddiness1865
finicking1869
picksomeness1881
pernicketiness1890
perfectionism1937
choosiness1945
pickiness1952
1937 Nation (N.Y.) 30 Oct. 465/2 Labor..cannot afford perfectionism.
1945 F. D. Roosevelt Public Papers & Addr. 1944–5 (1950) 498 Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace.
1957 Listener 24 Oct. 642/1 Sir Lewis Namier once gave up writing a book he had planned because some manuscripts in private hands were not made available to him. This was a fine example of scientific perfectionism.
1990 E. J. Chopich & M. Paul Healing your Aloneness i. i. 6 Perfectionism and the fear of being wrong are symptoms of the internal disconnection between the Adult and the Child.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1835