expansionism

[ ik-span-shuh-niz-uhm ]

/ ɪkˈspæn ʃəˌnɪz əm /

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noun

a policy of expansion, as of territory or currency: the colonial expansionism of Europe in the 19th century.

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Origin of expansionism

First recorded in 1895–1900; expansion + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM expansionism

ex·pan·sion·ist, noun, adjectiveex·pan·sion·is·tic, adjectivean·ti·ex·pan·sion·ism, nounan·ti·ex·pan·sion·ist, noun, adjective

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

How to use expansionism in a sentence

The new Italian state was tightly centralized, highly militarized, and incompetently expansionist.
David Frum's Book Club: The Pursuit of Italy|David Frum|March 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Born on April 15, 2009—Tax Day—the Tea Party movement was conceived last winter as a populist protest to expansionist government.
The Tea Party Splatters|Samuel P. Jacobs|January 11, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Chairman Rupert Murdoch is a brave new frontier for the insatiably expansionist Murdoch.
Murdoch's Italian Offensive|Conrad Black|June 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The party in power were avowedly expansionist; their retort was equally dialectic and vapid.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane

Up-to-date fashion is a democratic tyrant, an expansionist invading and permeating all places and peoples.
Discourses of Keidansky|Bernard G. Richards
The warm red bricks of the college buildings are well-nigh hidden by ivy, which, too, is an ardent expansionist.
Behind the Line|Ralph Henry Barbour
His stout imperialism had won him the leadership of the expansionist West and South.
Expansion and Conflict|William E. Dodd
A marrid man's a person with a limited affection—a protictionist an' anti-expansionist, a mugwump, be hivins.
Mr. Dooley's Philosophy|Finley Peter Dunne

British Dictionary definitions for expansionism

expansionism

/ (ɪkˈspænʃəˌnɪzəm) /

noun

the doctrine or practice of expanding the economy or territory of a country

Derived forms of expansionism

expansionist, noun, adjectiveexpansionistic, adjective

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

expansionism

Origin of expansionism

OTHER WORDS FROM expansionism

Words related to expansionism

How to use expansionism in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for expansionism

Derived forms of expansionism