antisemitism

American  

[an-tee-sem-i-tiz-uhm, an-tahy-] / ˌæn tiˈsɛm ɪˌtɪz əm, ˌæn taɪ- /

Or anti-Semitism

noun

1. discrimination against or prejudice or hostility toward Jews.

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Spelling

The closed and lowercase spelling antisemitism is now the preferred form. Jewish groups have long preferred the single word spelling, and many style guides, including those of major publications, have also adopted it. While Semitic is a current linguistic term for a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages including Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician, the spelling anti-Semite falsely implies prejudice against all of the diverse groups of people who speak any of these languages. However, that is not how antisemite is used. Rather, the “Semite” in antisemitism is a euphemism for “Jew,” meant to lend a scientific air to the racial grouping of all Jewish peoples based on an outdated pseudoscience of race.

Etymology

Origin of antisemitism

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

He’s losing audience share and, when he spoke out against antisemitism at AmericaFest, many in the audience booed him.

From Salon

In the aftermath of the Bondi attacks, in which 15 people were killed, the Jewish community accused the government of not doing enough to protect it from rising antisemitism.

From BBC

No community is a monolith, but one thing many Jewish Australians believe is that warnings about a rise of antisemitism in the months preceding this attack were ignored.

From BBC

However, the government's adviser on antisemitism has since said that some of the intelligence the force used to come to the decision was "inaccurate".

From BBC

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.

From Barron's