pogrom

1 of 2

noun

po·​grom pə-ˈgräm 

-ˈgrəm,

pō-;

ˈpō-grəm,

ˈpä- 

: an organized massacre of helpless people

specifically : such a massacre of Jews

pogrom

2 of 2

verb

pogromed; pogroming; pogroms

transitive verb

: to massacre or destroy in a pogrom

Examples of pogrom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

From the 1880s on, his ships carried so many Jewish immigrants fleeing violent Russian and Eastern European pogroms that he could be considered the unsung godfather of their descendants—my family among them. —Diane Cole, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2023

Advertisement Firsthand stories of pogroms, living in ghettos, violence endured were told to my generation. —Lynn Dewoskin Covarrubias, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Oct. 2023

For example, look at the very understandable description of the events of the massacre of the 7th of October as a pogrom. —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023

The Holocaust was the largest loss of Jewish life in their long history of persecution and pogroms. —Nick Watt, CNN, 22 Oct. 2023

Hence, commentators have variously invoked the anti-Jewish pogroms of eastern Europe more than a century ago, the Holocaust, and the surprise attack that began the 1973 Yom Kippur War. —Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2023

In the meantime, the Israeli army’s almost daily shooting of Palestinians and protecting Jewish settler pogroms have become unbearable including to many Israelis and American Jews. —Daoud Kuttab, The New Republic, 24 Oct. 2023

In February, 1988, anti-Armenian pogroms in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait left dozens dead. —Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2023

Armenians in Azerbaijan have been victims of pogroms, while Azerbaijanis claim discrimination and violence at the hands of Armenians. —Matt Bradley, NBC News, 28 Sep. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Yiddish, from Russ, literally, devastation

First Known Use

Noun

1891, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1915, in the meaning defined above