as in bias
the unfair practice of treating some people better than others
The favoritism of the boss led to many disgruntled employees. He accused the teacher of showing favoritism in assigning grades.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of favoritism
Is the pay bump a result of favoritism?
—
Emily Nix, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2025
Stone and Lanthimos have since worked together several times, and their collaboration, a mutual-favoritism society, has been hailed and sometimes reviled for its darkly exuberant sense of risk.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In a statement, HNTB Vice President Mark Weber denied that the company had been shown favoritism by SANDAG.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2025
Success in combat is less subjective than success in many other activities and therefore leaves less room for favoritism, rent seeking, and old-fashioned sandbagging.
—Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for favoritism
Emily Nix, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2025
Stone and Lanthimos have since worked together several times, and their collaboration, a mutual-favoritism society, has been hailed and sometimes reviled for its darkly exuberant sense of risk.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In a statement, HNTB Vice President Mark Weber denied that the company had been shown favoritism by SANDAG.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2025
Success in combat is less subjective than success in many other activities and therefore leaves less room for favoritism, rent seeking, and old-fashioned sandbagging.
—Dan Brooks, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for favoritism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for favoritism
Noun
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And there is also the power of confirmation bias.—
Lauren Wilson,
NBC news,
7 Jan. 2026
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Was there a regional bias at play?—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Oklahoma Indian Territory who defied poverty and prejudice to become one of America’s first Black female millionaires — at just 11 years old.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
7 Nov. 2025
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And, as Politico observed, his critics are poised to define him not by policy but by identity—testing whether the city that elected its first Muslim mayor will judge him by his performance or by prejudice.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Van Halen also mentioned Jack Quaid, the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, while talking about nepotism.—
Sarah Sotoodeh,
FOXNews.com,
3 Nov. 2025
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Wright previously faced an ethics investigation for nepotism in hiring his own son as a deputy, which is against state law, and allegedly used his force's helicopter for flights that had no work- related purposes, according to local reporting.—
Mason Leath,
ABC News,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Since state jobs are won through cronyism and bribery, livelihoods were also at stake.—
Nabil Salih,
Time,
4 Dec. 2025
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But over time, they themselves have been overtaken by misconduct, cronyism, and excess, especially after the leading proxy advisory firms continually traded hands between a rotating cast of conflicted foreign buyers and private equity firms.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
16 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Favoritism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/favoritism. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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