Definition of IMPERIALISM

Linguistic Roots of Imperialism

The original meaning of imperialism was a simple one: "imperial government," that is, empire in the classical sense (such as existed in ancient Rome, China, and Greece). In more recent times, imperialism has become synonymous with western hegemony in Africa and Asia from the 18th through the 20th centuries and with the spreading cultural influence of the United States. Formerly implying military and governmental dominance, the word today is often invoked in a wider variety of contexts, such as cultural imperialism, media imperialism, and economic imperialism. And while there has been considerable debate about net the effects of western dominance in other parts of the world, in its current use, imperialism often carries a negative connotation.

Examples of imperialism in a Sentence

British imperialism created the enormous British Empire.

Recent Examples on the Web Mill’s basic premise that imperialism brings progress reverberated in a series of moral claims. — Maya Jasanoff, The New Yorker, "Misremembering the British Empire," 26 Oct. 2020 To many contemporary internationalists, the successes of fascism, Stalinism, and Japanese imperialism suggested that force, not reason, ordered international politics. — Daniel Bessner, The New Republic, "America Has No Duty to Rule the World," 21 Oct. 2020 Alongside the horrors of war and imperialism, everyday objects and popular iconography have recurred in Tuymans’s paintings throughout his career. — Jameson Fitzpatrick, New York Times, "As Far as Luc Tuymans Is Concerned, Nothing Is Original," 20 Oct. 2020 Fascists also tend to embrace imperialism and the conquering of weaker nations. — Leslie Gornstein, CBS News, "What is fascism? And what does it mean in 2020 America?," 20 Oct. 2020 The disastrous war in Vietnam didn’t put an end to American imperialism or our patience for endless wars, as 20 years of news from Afghanistan proves. — Michael Bennett, Washington Post, "How do you write satire in the age of bleach injections? It isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.," 17 Oct. 2020 These are films that narrativize American imperialism as a matter of good (the US) vs. evil (as decided by the US). — Yasmin Adele Majeed, The New York Review of Books, "‘Ghosts of Sugar Land’: A Journey of Loss," 17 June 2020 No matter their ideological lens, Japan’s war movies have largely ignored the victims of Japan’s imperialism. — Ben Dooley, New York Times, "A Famed Horror Director Mines Japan’s Real-Life Atrocities," 10 Oct. 2020 Together, Naoroji and Freeman drew parallels between British and American imperialism. — Dinyar Patel, The Atlantic, "Kamala Harris and the ‘Other 1 Percent’," 7 Oct. 2020

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