babbittry

Etymology

From Babbitt + -ry, after the character in Sinclair Lewis' novel Babbitt.

Why this word is great

BABBITTRY — [Noun] The complacent materialism of the middle class, characterized by uncritical conformity to bourgeois values as satirized in Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel. From Babbitt (the protagonist's surname) + -ry (suffix forming nouns denoting qualities or states). Unlike philistinism (which rejects cultural refinement) or bourgeoisdom (which merely denotes class status), babbittry manifests as a triumvirate of boosterism: the gleam of chrome on a showroom-fresh sedan, the ritual exchange of business cards at lodge meetings, and the quiet horror of realizing one's golf handicap matters more than one's soul. It is the gilded cage of prosperity, polished daily until the bars disappear from view.

noun

  1. Narrow-minded materialism.“For most of this century, writers on the left have portrayed small cities as stifling enclaves of Babbittry and reaction, but today they are seen as refreshing oases from commercialized mass society—potential centers of community and local activism.”