white supremacy

noun

1

: the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races

The alt-right is a reactionary conservative movement … . It is characterized by an embrace of fascism, white supremacy, and misogyny …

—Constance Grady

2

: the social, economic, and political systems that collectively enable white people to maintain power over people of other races

… [William] Kelley turned his considerable intellect and imagination to the question of what it is like to be white in this country, and what it is like, for all Americans, to live under the conditions of white supremacy …

—Kathryn Schulz

Examples of white supremacy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That impact can be seen through laws and policies that sought to maintain the status quo of white supremacy. —Willie Wilson, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2025

The clashes led to visuals — protesters flying the flags of Mexico and other Latin American countries as a counterpoint to the Trump administration’s white supremacy, cars in flames, graffiti — that went worldwide and cast the City of Angels as a City in Hell. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025

Their attacks may look different on the surface, but they are all rooted in the same textbook fascist strategy designed to fuel the American police state and to hamstring our communities’ fight against white supremacy. —Rod Adams, Essence, 25 May 2025

In the decades after the Civil War, white Southerners led a violent counteraction to Reconstruction and sought a return to the old order based on white supremacy. —Bill Chappell, NPR, 21 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

white supremacy

noun

: the belief that the white race is superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races

white supremacist noun