iconoclasm

noun

icon·​o·​clasm ī-ˈkä-nə-ˌkla-zəm 

: the doctrine, practice, or attitude of an iconoclast

Examples of iconoclasm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Missing masterpieces For as long as humans have been making art, natural disasters, the ravages of time, theft and iconoclasm have threatened their creations’ survival. —Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Dec. 2024

Like Chambers, Burnham, and Buchanan, outsiders enamored of power, Trump relishes iconoclasm and rupture, seeks to upend the status quo, and loathes liberal elites and foreign-policy experts. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025

But they must not, in the course of their ordeal, be encouraged to adopt the kind of cynicism, the kind of despair, the kind of iconoclasm that is urged upon them by Mr. Baldwin in his recent works. —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025

The president’s iconoclasm creates its fair share of headaches both for Trump and his supporters. —Noah Rothman, National Review, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin īconoclasmus, from īconoclastēs iconoclast + -smus, borrowed from Greek -smos, suffix of verbal action

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for iconoclasm

• bronchospasm
• cytoplasm
• ectoplasm
• neoplasm
• protoplasm
• vasospasm
• chasm
• plasm
• spasm
• chiasm
• germplasm
• phantasm