Home › Glossary › Letter C

Consumerism

Economics
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A social emphasis on buying and using goods as a measure of well-being. It often appears in poetry as a critique of desire and display.

Detailed Definition
Consumerism describes a culture in which identity, pleasure, and status are strongly shaped by purchasing. In poetry, advertisements, packaging, brand language, and overflowing shelves may reveal how desire is manufactured and renewed. The term helps a poet examine the seduction of novelty, the loneliness beneath acquisition, and the environmental or human costs concealed behind polished objects and convenient abundance.
Example
Example in poetry:
Consumerism can be criticized in a poem filled with advertisements, shopping bags, and objects bought to ease loneliness; “The mall promised happiness in boxes, each purchase wrapped in another hunger” portrays consumerism as endless desire; A poet may contrast a child repairing an old toy with adults replacing usable goods; Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” attacks a culture of commercial power and material appetite
Additional Notes
Consumerism links identity to purchasing; poems may use brands, advertisements, waste, and desire to question fulfillment.
Also Known As
Consumer Culture Consumption Culture
Skip to main content