Dictionary

racism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

(US) audio
/ˈɹeɪsɪzm̩/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from French racisme, equivalent to race + -ism.

Meanings

(uncountable, usually) The belief that there are distinct human races with inherent differences which determine their abilities, and generally that some are superior and others inferior.
- It is altogether inaccurate to suggest that Europe is being indoctrinated with Fascism or Racism. 1932 October 21, Sisley Huddleston, “Europe Painted in Fascist Colors”, in Christian Science Monitor, →ISSN, page 8:
- But other kinds of talk and text that are not visible, so called covert racist discourse, may be just as important in reproducing the culturally shared ideas that underpin racism. 2011, Jane H. Hill, The Everyday Language of White Racism, →ISBN, page 1987:
- He lost his racism when he worked with a black man in Chicago. He lost his homophobia when he was befriended and looked after by his gay neighbors, a doctor and a nurse, in Little Rock. 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 45–46:
(uncountable, usually) The policies, practices, or systems (e.g. government or political) promoting this belief or promoting the dominance of one or more races over others.
- In part, the answer is that racism extends considerably beyond prejudiced beliefs. The essential feature of racism is not hostility or misperception, but rather the defense of a system from which advantage is derived on the basis of race. The manner in which the defense is articulated – either with hostility or subtlety – is not nearly as important as the fact that it insures the continuation of a privileged relationship. Thus it is necessary to broaden the definition of racism beyond prejudice to include sentiments that in their consequence, if not in their intent, support the racial status quo. 1993 September 24, David T. Wellman, Portraits of White Racism, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 210:
- Martin Luther King spoke out against racism.
- In “Crazy for This Democracy” (1945), Hurston critiques the US government's racism at home and abroad, including its silence on the anticolonial movements in Africa. 2013, Tyler T. Schmidt, Desegregating Desire, →ISBN:
(uncountable, usually) Prejudice or discrimination based upon race or ethnicity; (countable) an action of such discrimination.
- For, if racism against non-whites is morally wrong and unjustifiable, then how can racism against whites be morally right and justifiable? 2007, Joseph Godson Amamoo, Ghana: 50 years of independence:
- This was partly true, but the biggest thing stopping him was that he had tried going to a college in Adelaide before and grew tired of the little racisms and discrimination that he got there. 2016, Bernard Guerin, How to Rethink Human Behavior, →ISBN:
- Of course, racism has a long and inglorious history in US politics. But it now has a very new iteration in the nerdy tech-savvy generation of the alt right. Racism 2.0. They don't speak of eugenics but rather of maintaining "human biodiversity". And they have a thing about IQ tests showing that white people are cleverer than others. […] For in cross-pollinating with the anonymity and viciousness of the internet, with porn and video games replacing Christianity as the common language in which conservatives talk to each other, with openly anti-democratic impulses being justified as rationality, the virus of racism is capable of spreading as never before. 2016 August 25, Giles Fraser, “The alt right is old racism for the tech-savvy generation”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2023:
(colloquial, countable, usually) An act that could be seen as racist, typically relatively harmless and/or unintentional.
- I might have just done a racism.
(broadly, colloquial, in fiction, uncountable, usually) Hatred or prejudice against a race (species) of beings, such as an alien race or the human race.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
racisms	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Coordinates

prejudice (racial discrimination)

Deriveds

reverse racism · scientific racism · biological racism · gracism · antiracism · quasiracism · unracism · pseudoracism · gaycism · anti-racism · cryptoracism · ultraracism · environmental racism · chopstickism · metaracism · non-racism · space racism · xenoracism · institutional racism · racism of low expectations · cyberracism · hyperracism · proto-racism · nonracism · ethnoracism · postracism · linguicism · neoracism · systemic racism

Hypernyms

prejudice (racial discrimination)

Hyponyms

xenoracism · proto-racism · Arabophobia · shadism · Europhobia · Japanophobia · Anglophobia · misogynoir · antiwhiteness · Slavophobia · antigypsyism · metaracism · Hibernophobia · whitism · anti-Semitism · colorism · neoracism · Francophobia · Negrophobia · Hispanophobia · Afrophobia · Romaphobia · Ukrainophobia · Americanophobia · Scotophobia · Russophobia · Sinophobia · antiziganism

xenophobia · cultural relativism · anti-semitism · historical particularism · white supremacy · racist · intolerance · racialism · Afrocentrism · social Darwinism · hate crime · nationalism · black supremacy · action · scientific racism · political correctness · otherness · ethnocentrism · ethnic minority · cultural anthropology · racial profiling · ADL · multiculturalism · Ku Klux Klan · monogenism · eugenics · civil rights movement · supremacism · ethnonationalism · Eurocentrism · antiracist · tolerance · unilineal evolution · ethnic majority · antisemitism · apartheid · racistic · KKK · clannism · xenophobism · polygenism · anti-racist

Synonyms

racism · ethnicism† · racialism

Translations (130)

gl racismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sh rasìzam (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tk jynsparazlyk (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sq racizëm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tk rasizm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ps توکمپالنه (racial prejudice or discrimination) · es racismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gaa hewolonɔ su mligbalamɔ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · cy hiliaeth (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hy ռասիզմ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ar عُنْصُرِيَّة (racial prejudice or discrimination) · zdj uɓanguzi (ubanguzi) (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ast racismu (racial prejudice or discrimination) · mi whakatakētanga (racial prejudice or discrimination) · szl rasizm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · io rasismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ta இனவெறி (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ml വർണ്ണവിവേചനം (racial prejudice or discrimination) · scn razzismu (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ms rasisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · co razzismu (racial prejudice or discrimination) · br gouennelouriezh (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tpi birua long man bilong narapela skin (racial prejudice or discrimination) · mn арьсны үзэл (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tg расизм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttahatur (racial prejudice or discrimination) · de Rassismus (racial prejudice or discrimination) · te జాత్యహంకారము (racial prejudice or discrimination) · cmn 種族歧視 /种族歧视 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ko 레이시즘 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sh расѝзам (racial prejudice or discrimination) · uz rasizm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sk rasizmus (racial prejudice or discrimination) · pt racismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ps نژاد پالنه (racial prejudice or discrimination) · nb rasisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · af rassisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gu જાતિવાદ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · kk нәсілшілдік (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ga ciníochas (racial prejudice or discrimination) · bg раси́зъм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · eo rasismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fa راسیسم (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ta இனவாதம் (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ro rasism (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttarembingur (racial prejudice or discrimination) · kk расизм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttahroki (racial prejudice or discrimination) · et rassism (racial prejudice or discrimination) · cs rasizmus (racial prejudice or discrimination) · he גִּזְעָנוּת (racial prejudice or discrimination) · bua расизм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ug ئىرقچىلىق (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ht rasis (racial prejudice or discrimination) · be расі́зм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · oc racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ja 人種差別 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttastefna (racial prejudice or discrimination) · id rasisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · haw paihaʻakei ʻili (racial prejudice or discrimination) · cmn 種族主義 /种族主义 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ar عِرْقِيَّة (racial prejudice or discrimination) · el φυλετισμός (racial prejudice or discrimination) · uz irqchilik (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ky расизм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sv rasism (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hi नस्लभेद (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gcr rasism (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ja レイシズム (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ko 인종차별주의 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttafordómar (racial prejudice or discrimination) · si ජාතිවාදය (racial prejudice or discrimination) · am ዘረኝነት (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fy rasisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sco racism (racial prejudice or discrimination) · th คตินิยมเชื้อชาติ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · az rasizm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · kn ವರ್ಣಭೇದ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · lv rasisms (racial prejudice or discrimination) · or ଜାତିଭେଦ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tg нажодпарастӣ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · lt rasizmas (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ru раси́зм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ug ئىرقىي كەمسىتىش (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is rasismi (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fi rotusorto (racial prejudice or discrimination) · vi chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hi जातिवाद (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gcf rasis (racial prejudice or discrimination) · uk раси́зм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ur نَسل پَرَستی (racial prejudice or discrimination) · nl racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fa نژادپرستی (racial prejudice or discrimination) · kmr nîjadparêzî (racial prejudice or discrimination) · az irqçilik (racial prejudice or discrimination) · zdj uɓanguzi wa range (ubanguzi wa range) (racial prejudice or discrimination) · km ពូជនិយម (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fr racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · pl rasizm (racial prejudice or discrimination) · cs rasismus (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sc ratzismu (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gcf wasis (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hy ռասայականություն (racial prejudice or discrimination) · mk раси́зам (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tl rasismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ka რასიზმი (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hu rasszizmus (racial prejudice or discrimination) · nrf racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tr ırkçılık (racial prejudice or discrimination) · fi rasismi (racial prejudice or discrimination) · el ρατσισμός (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ca racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · haw hoʻokae ʻili (racial prejudice or discrimination) · da racisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · nn rasisme (racial prejudice or discrimination) · ko 인종차별 (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sw ubaguzi wa rangi (racial prejudice or discrimination) · hi रेसिज़म (racial prejudice or discrimination) · kw hilgasieth (racial prejudice or discrimination) · pa ਜਾਤੀਵਾਦ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · my လူမျိုးရေးဝါဒ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · gd gràin-cinnidh (racial prejudice or discrimination) · sl rasizem (racial prejudice or discrimination) · mn ᠠᠷᠠᠰᠤᠨ ᠤ ᠦᠵᠡᠯ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · bn বর্ণবাদ (racial prejudice or discrimination) · tt расизм (racial prejudice or discrimination) · is kynþáttahyggja (racial prejudice or discrimination) · mr वंशविद्वेष (racial prejudice or discrimination) · it razzismo (racial prejudice or discrimination) · yi ראַסיזם (racial prejudice or discrimination)