as in prejudice
disapproving
the unfair practice by a powerful person of giving jobs and other favors to relatives
Nepotism by the owner has hurt the company because the new executives are not qualified for their jobs.
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Recent Examples of nepotism
The nail industry—and the hair industry—operate on exploitative labor conditions buffeted by state connections and nepotism.
—
Arabelle Sicardi, Allure, 9 Oct. 2025
Can’t anybody here play this game, the game in question being nepotism?
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025
Lest you be concerned, there's no unmerited nepotism here.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 16 Sep. 2025
This has provoked inevitable eye-rolling about nepotism, but Mann is a comedic star in her own right.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nepotism
Arabelle Sicardi, Allure, 9 Oct. 2025
Can’t anybody here play this game, the game in question being nepotism?
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025
Lest you be concerned, there's no unmerited nepotism here.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 16 Sep. 2025
This has provoked inevitable eye-rolling about nepotism, but Mann is a comedic star in her own right.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nepotism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nepotism
Noun
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In July 2024, Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial ended by being dismissed with prejudice after his attorneys argued that prosecutors had buried evidence.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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The case against Taylor Swift Productions was dismissed with prejudice last month.—
Jenna Sundel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In a similar vein, Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist writing during her time working at Google, warned of the dangers of large language models acting as stochastic parrots, which repeat language patterns without understanding, and in doing so replicate the biases embedded in their training data.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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Soumaya Hamdi said the footage had been manipulated to portray her husband negatively and was produced by an organization known for its anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias, targeting those who speak out against the treatment of Palestinians.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The local politicians like Mayor Wu who are staying mum are just compounding cronyism and degrading the livability of the neighborhood.—
Lou Murray,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
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Some might say there was a lot of cronyism involved, and there definitely was, but the DJs at WHRB put a lot of work into promoting us on the show Record Hospital.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Now, those years of financial favoritism have caught up to her parents.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Nepotism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nepotism. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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