barbarism

[ bahr-buh-riz-uhm ]

noun

1. a barbarous or uncivilized state or condition.
2. a barbarous act; something belonging to or befitting a barbarous condition.
3. the use in a language of forms or constructions felt by some to be undesirably alien to the established standards of the language.
4. such a form or construction:

   Some people consider “complected” as a barbarism.

barbarism

/ ˈbɑːbəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. a brutal, coarse, or ignorant act
2. the condition of being backward, coarse, or ignorant
3. a substandard or erroneously constructed or derived word or expression; solecism
4. any act or object that offends against accepted taste

Other Words From

• hyper·barbar·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbarism¹

1570–80; < Latin barbarismus < Greek barbarismós foreign way of speaking. See barbarous, -ism

Word History and Origins

Origin of barbarism¹

C16: from Latin barbarismus error of speech, from Greek barbarismos , from barbaros barbarous

Example Sentences

The Ukrainian defenders are wisely withdrawing in the face of this reckless barbarism, but at a high price to their own morale and their will to continue the fight.

From Time

He does not like the army’s current “What’s your warrior” marketing campaign, because “warrior” speaks of barbarism to him.

From Time

I write it out of shame, and identification that this kind of barbarism resonated with me as well.

From Vox

Yet while it’s easy to think of the group through the lens of medieval barbarism, it is also showing smart tactical thinking in its military approach.

From Ozy

However, these stances relativistically position ankle monitors as “better than” incarceration, and avoid tough conversations about the barbarism of the devices themselves.

From MIT Technology Review

“Barbarism,” said retired NYPD Officer Jim Smith on Thursday.

From The Daily Beast

His sexual life, just like his barbarism, was the result of deliberation, not appetites run amok.

From The Daily Beast

This war, said Poroshenko, is a “choice between civilization and barbarism.”

From The Daily Beast

The difference now is that ISIS no longer depends on intermediaries to broadcast its barbarism.

From The Daily Beast

“ISIS is pure barbarism, it is bloodthirsty,” Marchouch told The Daily Beast in an interview.

From The Daily Beast

A barber having a dispute with a parish clerk on a point of grammar, the latter said it was a downright barbarism, indeed.

From Project Gutenberg

This monstrous medley gave birth to the macaroni style, the very climax of barbarism.

From Project Gutenberg

Tis funny to be thus of two civilisations—or, if you like, of one civilisation and one barbarism.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps the influence of the Berber blood in the population helps to prolong this barbarism.

From Project Gutenberg

Every nation, even those which are but just emerging from barbarism, has its domestic animals.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• atrocity
• barbarity
• brutality
• cruelty
• inhumanity