-shən ə lˌizəm, -shnəˌli- noun
( -s )
Etymology: sensational + -ism
1.
a. : sensational subject matter or treatment of subject matter or the use of such matter or treatment (as in a literary or dramatic work)
the story is told without swagger or sensationalism — Margaret Hexter
the sensationalism of the daily press
b. : the effect of such subject matter or treatment
the desire for sensationalism for its own sake, as sometimes fulfilled in news of sex and crime, must be placed very low in the scale — F.L.Mott
2. : a doctrine in ethics that postulates feeling as the sole criterion of good; sensualism
3. : a doctrine in philosophy that postulates the origin of all our knowledge in sensation or sense perceptions ; also : the view that all knowledge is made up of sense elements — contrasted with rationalism ; compare associationism , empiricism
4. : sensationism 2