bigotry
Americannoun
-
bigotries
plural
-
stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
- Synonyms:
- discrimination, bias, narrow-mindedness
-
the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bigotry
First recorded in 1665–75; bigot + -ry, formation parallel to French bigoterie
Explanation
If a person is intolerant of other ideas, races, or religions, we call that person a bigot. The intolerance expressed by that bigot is called bigotry. Bigotry is ugly. There are different types of bigotry — like religious bigotry or racist bigotry. Although bigotry can mean any form of intolerance or prejudice, when the word is used alone, it is most often understood to mean racial bigotry. The bigotry behind Jim Crow laws that separated races in the 1950s seems unbelievable to most modern teenagers.
Vocabulary lists containing bigotry
March: Book One
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Vocabulary Heard at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
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Friday Night Lights
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before Alphy, past seasons featured arcs about its citizens and vicars confronting bigotry.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
It begins with specious theories and disingenuous arguments advanced by people who believe themselves incapable of bigotry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Khan Valbuena believes his lived experience as a gay Muslim who has faced bigotry will bring a compassionate perspective to a bench some complain is overrun with old-school tough-on-crime prosecutors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
Miller has denied being animated by racism or bigotry.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
Until the mid-1980s, the law made no distinction between crimes motivated by bigotry and crimes motivated by money, passion, or boredom.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
As generations of Jews around the world know better than anyone, nationalism often breeds antisemitism and other bigotries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
Those last two groups are notable because Cohn was himself both Jewish and gay, yet evinced an odd inability to see how the bigotries he cultivated against others like him reflected on himself.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2024
“There is a greater resilience with respect to these kinds of bigotries because of both the destruction of the internet and the the down-sloping direction of civic discourse,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
She had an unceasing faith in humankind’s ability to better itself, to shed irrational bigotries, to come together in the pursuit of the greater good.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2020
It too often found its guarantee for faithfulness in jealous suspicions, and in fierce bigotries, and at length it presented all the characteristics of an exhausted teaching and a spent enthusiasm.
From The Oxford Movement Twelve Years, 1833-1845 by Church, R. W. (Richard William)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
