sensationalisticadj.
/s(ɛ)nˌseɪʃn̩əˈlɪstɪk/, /s(ɛ)nˌseɪʃn̩lˈɪstɪk/, /s(ɛ)nˌseɪʃənlˈɪstɪk/, /s(ɛ)nˌseɪʃ(ə)nəˈlɪstɪk/, U.S. /sɛnˌseɪʃənlˈɪstɪk/, /sənˌseɪʃənlˈɪstɪk/, /sɛnˌseɪʃnəˈlɪstɪk/, /sənˌseɪʃnəˈlɪstɪk/ 1. Philosophy. Of, relating to, or characterized by sensationalism (sensationalism n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > epistemology > [adjective] > of perception > relating to sensualism
sensational1801
sensualistic1828
sensual1829
sensualist1839
sensationalist1846
sensationalistic1846
sensist1850
sensistic1856
sensationist1868
sensationistic1899
1846 J. D. Morell Hist. & Crit. View Speculative Philos. I. 158 To the latter belong all the analytic philosophers, whether of the sensationalistic or idealistic school.
1893 Philos. Rev. 2 168 Green seeks to pin Locke down to his sensationalistic formulae.
1920 Monist 30 263 There are passages in Burthogge which give the same sensationalistic account of the origin of our knowledge.
1951 G. Humphrey Thinking 7 It is fair to say that the classical theory of association was atavistic, mechanistic, and sensationalistic.
2014 T. Solymosi in J. R. Shook & T. Solymosi Pragmatist Neurophilos. v. 95 Their conception [of experience]..is not just some species of the sensationalistic sort of Hume.
2. Seeking, or intended to cause, a strong emotional response; characterized by the use of sensational material or language; melodramatic, lurid.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > sensational
sensationary1755
lurid1850
sensational1859
sensationist1859
sensationalist1862
sensationalistic1863
yellow book1895
pulpy1915
1863 Bombay Gaz. 9 Sept. Certain of our contemporaries, of sensationalistic tendencies, have already heralded an Invasion of the Punjab by the Cabulese.
1890 Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 14 Dec. 14/1 The false conception of the army..fostered by a sensationalistic press.
1931 Vogue 15 Nov. 130/3 This easiness is not merely sensationalistic writing, but a very real felicity of style.
1972 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Apr. 496/4 The normally sensationalistic Violet Hunt became ‘more probable and reasonable’ than the normally clear-headed Helen Angeli.
2010 D. W. Bulla & G. A. Borchard Journalism Civil War 147 Northern newspapers as a whole had a greater volume of sensationalistic news than their Southern counterparts did.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1846