as in philistinism
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Recent Examples of barbarism
The standard choices presented to us—reason versus superstition, progress versus barbarism, past versus future, space versus Earth, growth versus stasis—were always chimeras.
—
Paul Kingsnorth, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
For instance, his description of Sultan Allauddin Khilji’s brutality toward his enemies is devoid of accusations of barbarism or excessive hand-wringing.
—Radha Vatsal
june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
The White Guard hinges on the contrast between the cozy bourgeois home of the Turbin family, based on Bulgakov’s family home on Kyiv’s most picturesque street, and the barbarism unfolding outside.
—Uilleam Blacker, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
As neo-colonial dynamics among the expatriate community unravel, this fragile bond becomes his only refuge from an impending collapse into solitude or barbarism.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbarism
Paul Kingsnorth, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
For instance, his description of Sultan Allauddin Khilji’s brutality toward his enemies is devoid of accusations of barbarism or excessive hand-wringing.
—Radha Vatsal
june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
The White Guard hinges on the contrast between the cozy bourgeois home of the Turbin family, based on Bulgakov’s family home on Kyiv’s most picturesque street, and the barbarism unfolding outside.
—Uilleam Blacker, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
As neo-colonial dynamics among the expatriate community unravel, this fragile bond becomes his only refuge from an impending collapse into solitude or barbarism.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for barbarism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barbarism
Noun
-
By the time the Supreme Court reopened those schools in 1964, the county’s 3% illiteracy rate for Black residents ages 5 to 22 had risen to 22%.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
By the time that my mother and Alina’s were born, female illiteracy, the norm in imperial Russia, had been all but eliminated.—
Julia Ioffe,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
During which Helm suffered loneliness, inconsequence and ignorance – an original and terrible fugue state.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
While potentially shakier data may cause volatility in markets later this week, for now ignorance appears to be bliss.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Barbarism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barbarism. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
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