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

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

Haffkine’s own final, peripatetic years involved fund-raising for Jews in Odessa still being victimized by pogroms and a scheme to resettle Jews to Crimea as farmers. —Julia M. Klein, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Sep. 2023

Sarah Wapner, 27, a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, compared the attack to pogroms and genocide in Europe in the last century. —Campbell Robertson, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023

Ashen military officers likened the scenes to pogroms that haunt the ancestral memories of many Israelis. —Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2023

Zionism as a national-political movement to establish a Jewish homeland came into being due to the pogroms – violent, usually murderous attacks in Europe – and the antisemitism of the late 19th century. —Avner Cohen, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2023

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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