ism

noun

\ ˈi-zəm

Definition of ism

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory

2 : an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief we all have got to come to grips with our isms— Joycelyn Elders

-ism

noun suffix

Definition of -ism (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : act : practice : process criticism plagiarism

b : manner of action or behavior characteristic of a (specified) person or thing animalism

c : prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a (specified) attribute racism sexism

2a : state : condition : property barbarianism

b : abnormal state or condition resulting from excess of a (specified) thing alcoholism or marked by resemblance to (such) a person or thing giantism

3a : doctrine : theory : religion Buddhism

b : adherence to a system or a class of principles stoicism

4 : characteristic or peculiar feature or trait colloquialism

Examples of ism in a Sentence

Noun

Cubism, Impressionism, and other artistic isms. ageism, racism, sexism, and all the other familiar isms

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Many affordable housing advocates say NIMBYism contributes to rising housing costs, so Carson’s support of YIMBY-ism is a both a zig and a zag. — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "HUD won one court battle, lost another under Ben Carson in 2018," 26 Dec. 2018 And so, in the quest to achieve complete understanding, a dictionary of Solari-isms has been developed. — Mike Vorel, The Seattle Times, "Inside the Solari-isms that have helped unleash the Seahawks’ resurgent offensive line," 31 Oct. 2018 She was challenged by sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), who had her own knee-jerk reactions based on knee-jerk PC-isms. — Lorraine Ali, latimes.com, "With a racist tweet, Roseanne Barr not only lost a job but also silenced a vital voice: Roseanne Conner's," 30 May 2018 After sharing some fond memories, Colbert took the opportunity to have the world’s most famous drag queen personally explain some Ru-isms. — Tracy Brown, latimes.com, "RuPaul gives Stephen Colbert a lesson in 'Drag Race' vocabulary," 25 Jan. 2018 Journal-isms is originally published on journal-isms.com. — Richard Prince, The Root, "Obama Was More Aware of Racism Than We Saw," 27 June 2018 The hypocrisy and do-nothing-ism doesn't stop there. — Jill Filipovic, Cosmopolitan, "Republican Lawmakers Are Human Shrug Emojis," 27 Feb. 2018 All of this was before Murphy gave the world anthology series American Horror Story, which Murphy could use as a playground for all of his most Murphy-isms. — refinery29.com, "The Hallmarks Of A Ryan Murphy Show," 4 June 2018 Rather, after some staff turnover and soul-searching, television, podcast, sketch, stand-up and social media satirists became a powerful point of contrast to the both-sides-ism that has plagued mainstream political media. — Dan Jakes, Chicago Reader, "The Deckchairs can't make American political comedy great again," 15 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for ism

Noun

-ism

Noun suffix

Middle English -isme, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, partly from Latin -isma (from Greek) & partly from Latin -ismus, from Greek -ismos; Greek -isma & -ismos, from verbs in -izein -ize

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