genocide

American  

[jen-uh-sahyd] / ˈdʒɛn əˌsaɪd /

noun

• genocides
  plural

1. the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

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genocide British  

/ ˈdʒɛnəʊˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the policy of deliberately killing a nationality or ethnic group

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genocide Cultural  

1. The deliberate destruction of an entire race or nation. The Holocaust conducted by the Nazis in Germany and the Rwandan genocide are examples of attempts at genocide.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• genocidal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• genocides
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of genocide

First recorded in 1940–45; from Greek géno(s) “race” + -cide

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Compare meaning

How does genocide compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ethnic cleansing vs. genocide

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Explanation

Genocide refers to the systematic destruction of a race or cultural group. In the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of one ethnic group, the Hutus, killed some 850,000 Tutsis in an attempt to wipe them out completely. Genocide was coined in 1944 by a Polish-Jewish scholar named Raphael Lemkin in response to the Holocaust. In 1948, the United Nations defined genocide as any of several acts (including murder) "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group..."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genocide genocides

Pillay’s career includes challenging apartheid in South Africa and serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she helped establish legal precedents recognizing sexual violence as an act of genocide.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

The ICC, based in The Hague, is heir to the Nuremberg tribunals that prosecuted Nazi war criminals after World War II and special courts that held trials after the Yugoslav wars and the Rwandan genocide.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The International Court of Justice is currently weighing whether the campaign constituted genocide, a charge the military has always denied.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

The BBC's North America correspondent Ione Wells explains what role the US has played in the claim of a genocide.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

The United Nations now defines genocide as an act, or acts, “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Kavazović and Rosensaft committed to collaborate in times of crisis, maintain consistent and compassionate channels of communication, remember and commemorate the victims of past genocides and repudiate all forms of bigotry.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2024

There have always been monuments to commemorate the loss of life from calamitous events: wars, genocides, terrorist attacks.

From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022

Kim, 47, knew that anyone there of his age or older had survived one of the most brutal genocides of the 20th century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2022

The two genocides of the 1990s - in central Africa and the former Yugoslavia - showed what happened when the Security Council was challenged to live up to words of the UN charter.

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2022

She said a local gallery in Rochester, called the Visual Studies Workshop, had been showing photography from genocides around the world, and perhaps we could do an exhibit there.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

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