Legalism

ahd-5
  • noun. Overly strict or rigid adherence to the law or to a religious or moral code.
  • noun. A legal term or expression, especially one that is unnecessarily technical.
    • The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  • noun. Strict adherence to law or prescription; belief in the efficacy of adhering strictly to the require ments of the law.
  • noun. Specifically In theology, the doctrine that salvation depends on strict observance of the law, as distinguished from the doctrine of salvation through grace; also, the tendency to observe with great strictness the letter of religious law, rather than its spirit.
    • the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
  • noun. Strictness, or the doctrine of strictness, in conforming to law.
    • Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
  • noun. A philosophy of focusing on the text of written law to the exclusion of the intent of law, elevating strict adherence to law over justice, mercy, grace and common sense.
  • noun. A legal axiom; a statement couched as a proverb expressing a rule of law.
    • WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
  • noun. strict conformity to the letter of the law rather than its spirit
    • Word Usage
    "One definition of legalism is believing that good works, including dressing modestly, will earn salvation."
    Antonyms
    Words with the opposite meaning
    antinomianism  
    Hypernym
    Words that are more generic or abstract
    conformism  conformity  
    Same Context
    Words that are found in similar contexts
    alimentation  amourist  behaviorist  carbonization  coxcombs  
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