barbarism

[ bahr-buh-riz-uhm ]
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noun
  1. a barbarous or uncivilized state or condition.

  2. a barbarous act; something belonging to or befitting a barbarous condition.

  1. the use in a language of forms or constructions felt by some to be undesirably alien to the established standards of the language.

  2. such a form or construction: Some people consider “complected” as a barbarism.

Origin of barbarism

1
1570–80; <Latin barbarismus<Greek barbarismós foreign way of speaking. See barbarous, -ism

Other words from barbarism

  • hy·per·bar·bar·ism, noun

Words that may be confused with barbarism

Words Nearby barbarism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use barbarism in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for barbarism

barbarism

/ (ˈbɑːbəˌrɪzəm) /


noun
  1. a brutal, coarse, or ignorant act

  2. the condition of being backward, coarse, or ignorant

  1. a substandard or erroneously constructed or derived word or expression; solecism

  2. any act or object that offends against accepted taste

Origin of barbarism

1
C16: from Latin barbarismus error of speech, from Greek barbarismos, from barbaros barbarous

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