Definition of ALLOCENTRIC

allocentric

Plural: allocentrics

Adj

  • Concerned with the interests of others more than one's own; community-minded.
  • Of spatial representations: linked to a reference frame based on the external environment and independent of one's current location in it (for example, giving a direction as "north" as opposed to "right").
  • Of a tourist: tending to be adventurous and preferring novel and unfamiliar experiences.

Noun

  • A tourist who tends to be adventurous and to prefer novel and unfamiliar experiences.

Origin / Etymology

The adjective is derived from allo- (prefix meaning ‘different; other’) + -centric (suffix meaning ‘having a specified object at the centre, or as the focus of attention’). Sense 3 (‘of a tourist: tending to be adventurous’) was coined by the American travel researcher Stanley C. Plog in a paper presented to the Southern California Chapter of the Travel Research Association on 10 October 1972, which was later published in February 1974.
The noun is probably derived from the adjective.

Antonyms

autocentric, egocentric, idiocentric, self-absorbed, self-centered, selfish

Scrabble Score: 0

allocentric: not valid in Scrabble (US) TWL Dictionary
allocentric: not valid in Scrabble (MW) Merriam-Webster Dictionary
allocentric: not valid in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 0

allocentric: not valid in Words With Friends