ableist

American  

[ey-buhl-ist] / ˈeɪ bəl ɪst /

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.

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noun

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

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

Etymology

Origin of ableist

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

Example Sentences

Denver Quarterly evidently bars material that lays bare social evils, since “we do not tolerate submissions that contain hate speech, bigotry, discrimination, or racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist language or violence of any kind.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

Maskell said she was glad there had been a public debate about the issue and "now disabled people should feel empowered to have their voice at long last in an ableist parliament".

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2025

But the most important solution to ableist rhetoric is not to make assumptions about someone’s identity.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2024

But there has to be some room in the discussion for a reasonable amount of pushback without anyone being labeled an ableist, be-monocled dinosaur—and, apparently, fearing for their job.

From Slate • Nov. 28, 2022

Another person screenshotted a message from the First Avenue website stating that “racist, sexist ableist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic or other biased language, including intentional misgendering” is not tolerated at the venue.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2022