feminism

noun

fem·​i·​nism ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm 

: belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

feministic

ˌfe-mə-ˈni-stik 

adjective

Examples of feminism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The history of moms at work Stay-at-home motherhood is sometimes portrayed as a natural or original state of humanity, something women began to deviate from around, say, the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. —Anna North, Vox, 26 June 2025

Third-wave feminism and its attendant media turned dieting (or at least talking about it) into something archaic and deeply uncool. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 25 June 2025

But amid the rise of second-wave feminism and the gay-liberation movement, the champions of sociobiology and its successor field, evolutionary psychology, focused more and more on arguing that differences between men and women were, in fact, rooted in biology, not just social conditioning. —Erik Baker, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025

This year, the finalists include plenty of heavy-hitters, writing about a wide array of political topics, from the Russian state to technology to feminism to climate change. —Literary Hub, 16 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

see feminine entry 1

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing feminism

• trans exclusionary radical feminism

Rhymes for feminism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism

Kids Definition

feminism

noun

fem·​i·​nism ˈfem-ə-ˌniz-əm 

1

: the theory supporting the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

2

: organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

feminist

-nəst 

noun or adjective

feministic

ˌfem-ə-ˈnis-tik 

adjective

Medical Definition

feminism

noun

fem·​i·​nism ˈfem-ə-ˌniz-əm 

: the presence of female characteristics in males