institutionalism
Americannoun
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the system of institutions or organized societies devoted to public, charitable, or similar purposes.
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strong attachment to established institutions, as of religion.
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the policy or practice of using public institutions to house and care for people considered incapable of caring for themselves.
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the belief or policy that a church must maintain institutions of education, welfare, etc., for its members.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of institutionalism
First recorded in 1860–65; institutional + -ism
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.
Most of them aren’t consistently originalist and often use other methods of interpretation—pragmatism, institutionalism, incrementalism, textualism—instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Boston University School of Law professor Jed Shugerman told Salon that particularly in the most recent Supreme Court term, Roberts has veered from institutionalism.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2024
This isn’t just ego or narcissism; it is exactly the kind of institutionalism Breyer has expressed over and over throughout his career.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2021
When Will and Tom visit a Veterans Affairs facility in an early scene, Ms. Granik visually underscores the building’s chilly institutionalism yet also reminds you of the people inside it.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2018
In the view of this learned and acute thinker, Catholicism, or institutionalism, is destined to supplant Protestantism, as the organic theory is destined to displace the atomic.
From Outspoken Essays by William Ralph Inge
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
