Dictionary

frontlash en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of front + backlash, coined by US president Lyndon B. Johnson with regard to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The word is still mainly used in reference to that Act.

Meanings

1. A swell of support for a proposal that counters any backlash.
   • When a president uses expansive powers and his policy works, he may benefit from a frontlash effect: the successful assertion of power will not only yield political dividends, it will also strengthen the office of the presidency itself. 1996, Richard M. Pious, The Presidency, page 89:
   • In his keynote, John Paul Hudson condemned the "glossy commercialism" of David Goodstein and the Advocate, which he said was part of a gay media "backlash" -- while the anti-gay "frontlash" against gays continues. 1977 April 9, John Kyper, “Controversies Spark Maine Gay Symposium”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

Forms

wikipedia: Civil Rights Act of 1964 · wikipedia: Lyndon B. Johnson