pogrom

1 of 2

noun

po·​grom pə-ˈgräm How to pronounce pogrom (audio)
-ˈgrəm,
pō-;
ˈpō-grəm,
ˈpä- How to pronounce pogrom (audio)
: an organized massacre of helpless people
specifically : such a massacre of Jews

pogrom

2 of 2

verb

pogromed; pogroming; pogroms

transitive verb

: to massacre or destroy in a pogrom

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But that ended abruptly when more than 40 Jews were killed during a pogrom that began in Kielce and spread to other cities in 1946. Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2023 Unseen photographs from the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom have been released on the 84th anniversary of the deadly antisemitic event. Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2022 The photos were taken by Nazi photographers during the pogrom in the city of Nuremberg and the nearby town of Fuerth. Ilan Ben Zion, Hartford Courant, 9 Nov. 2022 Worst of all, in August 1920 Russian Cossacks charged through, instigating a brutal pogrom and seizing 230 Jewish men as hostages, one of whom was Shenka’s husband and Sarah’s father, Dovid. Diane Cole, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2022 In 1905, a savage Russian pogrom took hundreds of Jewish lives. New York Times, 19 Aug. 2022 A few months later, in February 2002, following an act of arson in which a railway carriage carrying Hindu pilgrims was burnt, there was a brutal pogrom against Muslims in the villages and towns of Gujarat. Arundhati Roy, CNN, 22 June 2022 Two days after the pogrom, a reporter visited the Tongs’ ransacked store. Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 11 May 2022 The pogrom was incited by the government of then-Turkish premier Adnan Menderes and his ruling Democrat Party. David I. Klein, sun-sentinel.com, 17 Nov. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pogrom.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Yiddish, from Russ, literally, devastation

First Known Use

Noun

1891, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1915, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pogrom was in 1891

Dictionary Entries Near pogrom

Cite this Entry

“Pogrom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pogrom. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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