pogrom

1 of 2

noun

po·​grom pə-ˈgräm How to pronounce pogrom (audio)
-ˈgrəm,
pō-;
ˈpō-grəm,
ˈpä- How to pronounce pogrom (audio)
: an organized massacre of helpless people
specifically : such a massacre of Jews

pogrom

2 of 2

verb

pogromed; pogroming; pogroms

transitive verb

: to massacre or destroy in a pogrom

Examples of pogrom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
In Iași alone over a three-day period in June 1941, more than 13,000 Jews — more than a third of the city’s Jewish population — were massacred, marking one of the worst pogroms of World War II. Larry Luxner, Sun Sentinel, 21 Aug. 2025 Over centuries of living under Christian rule, Jews were subject to periods of favor and periods of persecution, pogroms, and expulsions. Daniel May, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025 During the Crusades, the Inquisition, and countless pogroms, Jews were demonized as infidels who refused to abandon their faith, even under threat of death. Avi Weiss, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025 Concord led to our own brand of movies, forged not by old American wealth but by entrepreneurial immigrants from Eastern Europe, many of them Jews escaping pogroms throughout that part of the world: Louis B. Meyer (MGM), Adolph Zukor (Paramount), The Warner Brothers and more. Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for pogrom

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Yiddish, from Russ, literally, devastation

First Known Use

Noun

1891, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pogrom was in 1891

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Cite this Entry

“Pogrom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pogrom. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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