partisanship

noun

par·​ti·​san·​ship ˈpär-tə-zən-ˌship 

-sən-,

-ˌzan-,

 chiefly British  ˌpär-tə-ˈzan-

: the quality or state of being partisan : strong and sometimes blind adherence to a particular party, faction, cause, or person

political partisanship

The Court is so riven by partisanship that justices even pick their law clerks in ways influenced by ideology …

—Anthony Lewis

The succession of Civil War, Reconstruction and the Gilded Age was marked by bitter partisanship, endemic corruption, appalling violence and a general sense that democracy was failing.

—Jon Grinspan

Synonyms

• bias
• prejudice
• tendentiousness
• partiality

Examples of partisanship in a Sentence

partisanship can discourage any serious search for the truth

there's a pervasive partisanship in the company that prevents it from acknowledging that other companies are outpacing it with innovative ideas

Recent Examples on the Web

Our hearts go out to his family, but this should not have become a springboard for hysteria, partisanship, and meltdown. —Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner, 13 Sep. 2025

Trust in public institutions, which are meant to facilitate responsiveness, has plunged as partisanship persists. —Alex Rosado, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025

But even if the battles between political parties sometimes have a useful purpose, Washington worried about the excesses of partisanship. —Robert A. Strong, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025

The film looks at the key role of political cartoons in global democracies, the decline of the profession amid a newspaper industry meltdown and the effects of extreme political partisanship on media and editorial cartooning. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1798, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for partisanship

• apostleship
• apprenticeship
• assistantship
• championship
• chancellorship
• citizenship
• companionship
• copartnership
• dictatorship
• directorship
• discipleship
• editorship