1
as in segregation
the belief that certain races of people are by birth and nature superior to others
Hitler's declaration of his belief in a "master race" provided irrefutable proof to the world of the inherent and dangerous racism of the Nazi movement
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in prejudice
hatred of or discrimination against a person or persons based on their race
the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was one of the most deplorable incidents of racism that occurred during the civil rights movement of the 1960s
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Recent Examples of racism
Emerging data shows that COVID-19 disproportionately affects minority communities, likely due to racism’s downstream effects on socioeconomic opportunities, health outcomes and insurance coverage.
—
Isobel Rosenthal, Scientific American, 17 June 2020
Villarosa, a veteran journalist who has covered Black health and wellness for decades, begins her forceful exposure of racism’s toxic effect on the U.S.’s health system by recounting her own personal awakening.
—Julia Schimautz, The Atlantic, 13 Dec. 2022
Barrow asked for a definition of critical race theory, which is the study of racism’s effect on societal structures and is usually taught at the graduate level but has become shorthand to describe progressive ideas about race and gender.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2022
But increasingly, research shows differences based on race don't reflect biology, but instead structural racism's effect on health.
—Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for racism
Isobel Rosenthal, Scientific American, 17 June 2020
Villarosa, a veteran journalist who has covered Black health and wellness for decades, begins her forceful exposure of racism’s toxic effect on the U.S.’s health system by recounting her own personal awakening.
—Julia Schimautz, The Atlantic, 13 Dec. 2022
Barrow asked for a definition of critical race theory, which is the study of racism’s effect on societal structures and is usually taught at the graduate level but has become shorthand to describe progressive ideas about race and gender.
—Tyler Kingkade, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2022
But increasingly, research shows differences based on race don't reflect biology, but instead structural racism's effect on health.
—Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for racism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racism
Noun
-
Under apartheid, a white minority ruled South Africa for much of the second half of the 20th century, enforcing a system of racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against nonwhite populations.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
-
The people who attained refugee status are part of the ethnic minority of Afrikaners, a group of white people of Dutch descent who ruled South Africa during the period of racial segregation known as apartheid.—
Ashley Capoot,Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
15 May 2025
Noun
-
Critics too often do a disservice to the art of younger generations, overstating the similarities between works that have little in common besides the age of their makers or failing to account for the aesthetic prejudices of their own cohort.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
22 May 2025
-
Combs' attorneys had the suit moved from state court to federal court, and in January 2025, U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy dismissed it with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.—
Gina Barton,
USA Today,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Racism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racism. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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