bigotry
Americannoun
plural
bigotries-
stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
- Synonyms:
- discrimination, bias, narrow-mindedness
-
the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bigotry
First recorded in 1665–75; bigot + -ry, formation parallel to French bigoterie
Explanation
If a person is intolerant of other ideas, races, or religions, we call that person a bigot. The intolerance expressed by that bigot is called bigotry. Bigotry is ugly. There are different types of bigotry — like religious bigotry or racist bigotry. Although bigotry can mean any form of intolerance or prejudice, when the word is used alone, it is most often understood to mean racial bigotry. The bigotry behind Jim Crow laws that separated races in the 1950s seems unbelievable to most modern teenagers.
Vocabulary lists containing bigotry
March: Book One
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Vocabulary Heard at the 2016 Democratic National Convention
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Friday Night Lights
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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.
Miller has denied being animated by racism or bigotry.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026
They aren’t the only victims of bigotry in American history and modern America; Italians and Irish immigrants had their turn, too.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
If memory serves, a 50% score in elementary school earns an F. Celebrating results that are slightly better than awful is a capitulation to the bigotry of low expectations Mr. Emanuel decries.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
“The Black Spot,” which Fuchs and Kane co-wrote, displays the fruit of Derry’s bigotry in all its nastiness, a harvest so ripe and bountiful that Pennywise feasts to satiety.
From Salon • Dec. 8, 2025
Teachers and administrators have an obligation to make dignity for everybody—not just the popular and the conventional—an urgent educational concern, in the same way they’ve taken on racism and other forms of bigotry.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
