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

But the criticism of partisanship in late-night hosts generally ran in only one direction, and those hours became a mostly conservative-free zone. —W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 18 July 2025

This experiment in self-government is being challenged by bitter partisanship that make Americans on one side of the political divide view their opposites as enemies, not fellow citizens. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 July 2025

This shows the power of partisanship, but also the power of TikTok’s social rewards system. —Zicheng Cheng, The Conversation, 26 June 2025

Having gone in the tank for Griffin, North Carolina’s highest courts are a noisome example of why partisanship ought to have no place in judicial selection. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 May 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