Dictionary

individualistic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌɪn.dɪˌvɪ.dʒu.əˈlɪ.stɪk/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From individualist + -ic or individual + -istic.

Meanings

1. More interested in individual people than in society as a whole.
   • It is, then, as a treatise of social forces, individualistic and collectivistic, in German literature that Francke's work must be tested, not as a history of the artistic form and content of that literature. 1895, The Citizen, page 398:
   • People in individualistic cultures may be more concerned with distributive justice than people in collectivistic cultures because they have such clear-cut notions of individual equity. 2001, David Matsumoto, The Handbook of Culture and Psychology, page 395:
2. Interested in oneself rather than others; egocentric.
   • A few examples will demonstrate the cultural basis of individualistic, greedy, and anticooperative behavior. 2012, Carl Ratner, Cooperation, Community, and Co-Ops in a Global Era, page 46:
   • The researchers posit that something they call the “hipster effect” asserts itself in human populations no matter how individualistic we imagine ourselves to be, because it’s individuality itself that sparks conformity. 2014 December 2, David DiSalvo, “Are You Vulnerable to the Hipster Effect?”, in Psychology Today, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025:
3. Having idiosyncratic behaviour or ideas.

Forms

Deriveds

nonindividualistic · unindividualistic · individualistically · anarcho-individualistic · overindividualistic

Relateds

individualism

Synonyms

interested · selfish · every man for himself · self-absorbed · porkish · egocentric · self-seeking · individualistic · self-minded · solipsistic · atypical · self-centered · eccentric · self-centered · egoistical · self-interested · idiocentric · unconventional · selflike · selfsome · reptilian · solipsistic · idiocentric · idiocentric · self-serving

Translations (22)

lv individuālistisks (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · sv individualistisk (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · gl individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · ast individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · pt individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · sh индивидуалѝстичкӣ (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · nl individualistisch (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · ru индивидуалисти́ческий (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · sh individualìstičkī (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · et individualistlik (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · mi angatakitahi (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · fi individualistinen (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · ca individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · fr individualiste (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · es individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · da individualistisk (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · de individualistisch (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · hu individualista (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · be індывідуалісты́чны (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · pl indywidualistyczny (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · cmn 個人主義的 /个人主义的 (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole) · uk індивідуалісти́чний (more interested in the individual than in society as a whole)