institutionalism
Americannoun
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the system of institutions or organized societies devoted to public, charitable, or similar purposes.
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strong attachment to established institutions, as of religion.
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the policy or practice of using public institutions to house and care for people considered incapable of caring for themselves.
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the belief or policy that a church must maintain institutions of education, welfare, etc., for its members.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of institutionalism
First recorded in 1860–65; institutional + -ism
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.
Matsumoto stresses the anonymity of modern institutionalism through a proliferation of numbers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Boston University School of Law professor Jed Shugerman told Salon that particularly in the most recent Supreme Court term, Roberts has veered from institutionalism.
From Salon • Jul. 31, 2024
“We can be bolder. We can have greater energy. We can do things that are outside the box. This is not the time for institutionalism or incrementalism.”
From Washington Post • Jun. 26, 2022
Wanting better leaders never goes out of style, but the series’s reverent institutionalism now seems much more remote.
From New York Times • Oct. 16, 2020
Catholicism, whether Roman or Anglican, stands to lose heavily by the decay of institutionalism as an article of faith.
From Outspoken Essays by Inge, William Ralph
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.
