How to Use humanism in a Sentence

humanism

noun
  • Over the past 30 years, Darnielle has used the Mountain Goats to expound a sort of small-scale, lo-fi humanism.
    Robert Rubsam, The New Republic, 24 Feb. 2022
  • His images of them are quick and loose, the full energy and humanism of the music seized within the frame.
    Max Lakin, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2021
  • For Lincoln, the debates became the venue for the full expression of his humanism.
    Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2020
  • This movie quietly evokes the quirky humanism of early Jonathan Demme — go see it!
    Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2023
  • The humanism that makes Reid such a hit on the podium works behind closed doors, too, in relating to players.
    Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2023
  • Even in the final moments of his life, Han was always going to be undone by his humanism and his heart, but Qi’ra was on the other side of the line.
    Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Their answers contrasted in ways large and small, but each reached for some form of what used to be called Christian humanism.
    Barton Swaim, WSJ, 7 Dec. 2018
  • This is Gurnah’s approach, throughout: a humanism that does much to make up for the one odd absence in his novel.
    Siddhartha Deb, The New Republic, 26 Oct. 2022
  • His flaw was a lack of patience with his own deeply felt humanism, self-censoring even his love of Beethoven in pursuit of the public good.
    Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2019
  • Chay Yew directs this world premiere with a warmth and generosity that matches the humanism and balance of the script.
    Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Their humanism and activism became part of Martha’s DNA, knit through her work from the beginning, or nearly so.
    Paula McLain, Town & Country, 12 July 2018
  • The liberalism that came after humanism may be what keeps his memory alive and draws us to him.
    Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2017
  • The enlightened humanism of the director of Melvin and Howard is evident in every frame.
    Patrick Friel, Chicago Reader, 10 July 2018
  • His work is singular for the warmth and humanism of his approach to minimalism.
    Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 24 Jan. 2023
  • Her humanism is Scrapper’s best, most distinctive quality — the source of its wit.
    Armond White, National Review, 30 Aug. 2023
  • In the unpicking of these fantasies, Hendren’s humanism shines.
    Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2020
  • That’s why, in comparison with the sequel, the original comes off as a work of warmhearted humanism.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 May 2022
  • To him, the Enlightenment’s championing of reason, science, humanism, and moral progress is a model for our own times.
    David Lay Williams, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2018
  • Its overly poetic, quasi-humanism about the gamut of life from birth to death seems more official than universal.
    Armond White, National Review, 16 June 2021
  • Nowhere is the tension between his orthodoxy and his nascent humanism more acute than in Canto XV of Inferno, when a shade with features scorched by the flames clutches at the poet’s hem.
    Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
  • There’s a humanism to these shots of demolition derbies and lush Appalachian fields that feels of a piece with something like Malick's Days of Heaven, where the emphasis is always on the light, the sky, the time of day.
    Billboard Staff, Billboard, 26 Nov. 2019
  • The strands of Ichikawa’s filmmaking linger in so many of the documentaries that follow—both his humanism and his attention to a city’s transformation.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2018
  • Bakewell also discusses the many critiques of humanism, from figures like the postcolonial writer Frantz Fanon and the philosopher Michel Foucault.
    Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2023
  • For all her sophisticated humanism, Le Guin could also be an awful lot of fun.
    Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2023
  • For these reasons, a defense of reason, science, and humanism is timely and important.
    Akshat Rathi, Quartz, 20 Dec. 2019
  • And so there are moments of levity like that where while things have broken down at a very partisan level on Capitol Hill, there are those moments of kind of humanism that exist as well.
    NBC News, 11 Dec. 2019
  • The show’s big center section turns to Cosimo’s involvement with literature and the revival of humanism.
    Roberta Smith, New York Times, 24 June 2021
  • Now those who believe in humanism and those who defend liberal democracy have to come forward with a true global vision.
    Elif Shafak, Quartz, 6 Aug. 2019
  • Yet humanism has been seen in some quarters as unfashionable, or unachievable, or both.
    Sarah Bakewell, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2018
  • What emerges is an unapologetic account from a Catholic leader who balances his role as defender of traditional doctrine with humanism and the distinct perspective of the Global South.
    Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'humanism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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