ableist

[ ey-buhl-ist ]

adjective

1. relating to, involving, or fostering discrimination against disabled people: ableist architecture;

   ableist language;

   ableist architecture;

   implicitly ableist laws.

2. tending to regard people with a disability as incomplete, diminished, or damaged, and to measure the quality of life with a disability against a nondisabled standard: ableist assumptions.

   an ableist culture;

   ableist assumptions.

noun

1. A person with ableist assumptions, beliefs, or attitudes:

   The work of changing how ableists think often falls to people with disabilities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ableist¹

First recorded in 1980–85; able ( def ) + -ist ( def )