Hobbesian
adjective
Hobbes·ian
ˈhäb-zē-ən 
Examples of Hobbesian in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Robin Waterfield’s Aesop’s Fables: A New Translation (Basic Books, $30) renders them in all their feral, fatalistic glory—bursts of Hobbesian asperity with dubious, sometimes conflicting, morals.
—
Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024
And rather than seeing the peaceful, democratic flowering of a people freed of tyrannical rule, Iraq instead sank into a Hobbesian nightmare in which ever-smaller groups fought each other for ever-smaller bits of territory.
—David Petraeus, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2024
But Dot and her family suggest that life isn’t always a Hobbesian struggle between the weak and the strong.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2024
The series features epic wars among clans of feral cats who inhabit a Hobbesian world.
—Simon Montlake, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Apr. 2024
These early thinkers fought to make Hobbesian authoritarianism impossible by establishing the rule of law and constitutionally limited government, with safeguards in place to protect individual freedoms.
—Helena Rosenblatt, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The enemies of the unnatural liberal order that the Western world carved out of the tribal wilderness are united in their effort to thrust us back into the Hobbesian state of nature.
—Daniel Foster, National Review, 30 Nov. 2023
To this day, Libya remains trapped in a Hobbesian hell of internecine warfare and lawlessness.
—Max Boot, Foreign Affairs, 10 Mar. 2023
Throughout much of the 17th century, the Hobbesian view seemed to be on the winning side of history.
—Joseph Loconte, National Review, 2 Apr. 2022
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Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024
And rather than seeing the peaceful, democratic flowering of a people freed of tyrannical rule, Iraq instead sank into a Hobbesian nightmare in which ever-smaller groups fought each other for ever-smaller bits of territory.
—David Petraeus, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2024
But Dot and her family suggest that life isn’t always a Hobbesian struggle between the weak and the strong.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2024
The series features epic wars among clans of feral cats who inhabit a Hobbesian world.
—Simon Montlake, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Apr. 2024
These early thinkers fought to make Hobbesian authoritarianism impossible by establishing the rule of law and constitutionally limited government, with safeguards in place to protect individual freedoms.
—Helena Rosenblatt, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The enemies of the unnatural liberal order that the Western world carved out of the tribal wilderness are united in their effort to thrust us back into the Hobbesian state of nature.
—Daniel Foster, National Review, 30 Nov. 2023
To this day, Libya remains trapped in a Hobbesian hell of internecine warfare and lawlessness.
—Max Boot, Foreign Affairs, 10 Mar. 2023
Throughout much of the 17th century, the Hobbesian view seemed to be on the winning side of history.
—Joseph Loconte, National Review, 2 Apr. 2022
Dictionary Entries Near Hobbesian
Cite this Entry
“Hobbesian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hobbesian. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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