ethnic cleansing

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noun

the elimination of an unwanted ethnic group or groups from a society, as by genocide or forced emigration.

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Origin of ethnic cleansing

First recorded in 1985–90

Words nearby ethnic cleansing

ethmoid, ethnarch, ethnarchy, ethnic, ethnical, ethnic cleansing, ethnicity, ethnic minority, ethno-, ethnoarchaeology, ethnoastronomy

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

How to use ethnic cleansing in a sentence

Abiy, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, now speaks in tones threatening ethnic cleansing — promising, for example, to “bury” his opponents, in a post censored by Facebook.
Ethiopia's Tigray Conflict Demands International Attention. Time Is Running Out|Aanu Adeoye|November 16, 2021|Time
The “need” for ethnic cleansing can pop up in casual conversations on politics among friends or family.
Is India Headed for an Anti-Muslim Genocide?|Debasish Roy Chowdhury|October 4, 2021|Time
But a 2011 study of genetic evidence from 30 ethnic groups in India disproved this theory.
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans|Nina Strochlic|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
His New Deal Coalition brought together Southerners, Northern ethnic minorities, and urban blacks under the same banner.
Steve Scalise Shows There’s a Fine Line Between Confederate & Southern|Lloyd Green|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He proposed among other things that police departments must better reflect the ethnic makeup of the populace.
Darren Wilson Wasn’t Indicted—the System Was|Michael Daly|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How does a complicated ethnic background inform someone's experiences?
What It's Like To Be Ambiguously Ethnic|The Daily Beast Video|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Army officials also allege that he worked for ethnic rebels as a “communications captain.”
Hope and Change? Burma Kills a Journalist Before Obama Arrives|Joshua Carroll|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The objects in the engraving are probably the shears, comb, ladle, and an unknown instrument used for cleansing wool.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
Therefore they now carried boughs and green branches and palms, for him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
The present government, instead of constructing similar works, neglects even the repairs and requisite cleansing of this aqueduct.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 358|Various
They take pride in their hair, and are particularly careful about it, washing and cleansing it almost every day.
A Narrative of the Shipwreck, Captivity and Sufferings of Horace Holden and Benj. H. Nute|Horace Holden
It was softer than a cleansing tissue, and probably even more flexible.
The Professional Approach|Charles Leonard Harness

British Dictionary definitions for ethnic cleansing

ethnic cleansing

noun

euphemistic the violent removal by one ethnic group of other ethnic groups from the population of a particular area: used esp of the activities of Serbs against Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for ethnic cleansing

ethnic cleansing

A euphemism to describe the forceful removal or genocide of minority ethnic groups (see ethnicity) during the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was used mainly to describe the Serbs' attacks on Muslims in Bosnia and Albanians in Kosovo. (See Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo War.)

ethnic cleansing

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Origin of ethnic cleansing

Words nearby ethnic cleansing

Words related to ethnic cleansing

How to use ethnic cleansing in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ethnic cleansing

Cultural definitions for ethnic cleansing