noun
-
a pronunciation, phrase, etc, peculiar to a particular locality
-
another word for provincialism
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of localism
Explanation
Localism is a preference for the place where you live. Your localism might make it hard for you to understand people who come from other countries. Localism can range from a love for the town in which you live to a prejudice against other states or countries. A police officer who's accused of localism may have a habit of only giving speeding tickets to out-of-towners, for example. A more positive kind of localism might inspire you to buy vegetables that are grown nearby and purchase tools at the neighborhood hardware shop instead of at a store that is part of a national chain.
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.
Localism grew out of an ideology that most originally considered too nativist.
From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2021
Another book called The New Localism says a growing number of US cities are addressing the problems of post-industrial America in increasingly imaginative and flexible ways - succeeding where bigger government fails.
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2018
This has amounted to the emergence of a New American Localism.
From US News • Jul. 8, 2016
Localism is likewise a pipe dream, a pastoral poem sung at court.
From Time • Jan. 30, 2013
Localism and provinciality have been forced on Spain by nature, and it is this very provincialism which is her charm for the traveler.
From Heroic Spain by O'Reilly, Elizabeth Boyle
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.
