deism

noun

de·​ism ˈdē-ˌi-zəm  ˈdā- 

often capitalized

: a movement or system of thought advocating natural (see natural entry 1 sense 8b) religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe

deist

ˈdē-ist 

ˈdā-

noun often capitalized

deistic

dē-ˈi-stik 

dā-

adjective

deistical

dē-ˈi-sti-kəl 

dā-

adjective

deistically

dē-ˈi-sti-k(ə-)lē 

dā-

adverb

Did you know?

Belief in God based on reason rather than revelation or the teaching of any specific religion is known as deism. The word originated in England in the early 17th century as a rejection of orthodox Christianity. Deists asserted that reason could find evidence of God in nature and that God had created the world and then left it to operate under the natural laws devised by God. By the late 18th century, deism was the dominant religious attitude among Europe’s educated classes; it was accepted by many upper-class Americans of the same era, including the first three US presidents.

Examples of deism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This vague gesture in the direction of deism has no antecedent in the book, no moral or theological trajectory to make Bambi’s insight meaningful or satisfying. —Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2022

Those intuitions usually commended a staid deism and scorn for those whose beliefs extended any further. —Jeffrey Collins, WSJ, 12 Mar. 2021

Our Founding Fathers were mostly influenced by deism. —WSJ, 15 Jan. 2021

These concepts readily passed from Rousseau’s sentimental deism, to Hegel’s doctrine of world-historical progress, to Marx, and to progressivism today. —John D. Hagen, National Review, 20 Aug. 2020

And yet Kelso returned to a kind of deism after the war. —D.g. Hart, WSJ, 22 Aug. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1682, in the meaning defined above