Hobbesian
/ˈhɑb.zi.ən/adjective, noun
Hobbesian is an adjective meaning “Of, relating to, or influenced by Thomas Hobbes or his philosophical theories” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled H-O-B-B-E-S-I-A-N and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 20 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does Hobbesian mean?
adjective
- 1
Of, relating to, or influenced by Thomas Hobbes or his philosophical theories.
a Hobbesian theory of the state
- 2
Involving unrestrained, selfish, and uncivilized competition.
a cutthroat, Hobbesian environment
noun
- 1
A follower of the theories of Thomas Hobbes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce Hobbesian?
- UK /ˈhɒb.zi.ən/
- UK /ˌhɒˈbi.ʒən/
- US /ˈhɑb.zi.ən/
Hobbesian has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of Hobbesian
- more Hobbesian comparative
- most Hobbesian superlative
- Hobbian
- Hobbsian
- Hobbesians plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is Hobbesian?
Hobbesian appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 134,976th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Hobbesian in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relating to Thomas Hobbes or his philosophical theories:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hobbesien |
| German | Hobbessch |
| Portuguese | hobbesiano |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does Hobbesian come from?
From Hobbes (a surname) + -ian, referring to the 17th century English author Thomas Hobbes; whose best-known work, Leviathan, describes the state of nature in terms of unrestrained, selfish, and uncivilized competition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).