localism

[ loh-kuh-liz-uhm ]

/ ˈloʊ kəˌlɪz əm /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for localism on Thesaurus.com

noun

a word, phrase, pronunciation, or manner of speaking that is peculiar to one locality.

a local custom.

excessive devotion to and promotion of the interests of a particular locality; sectionalism.

attachment to a particular locality.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of localism

First recorded in 1815–25; local + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM localism

lo·cal·ist, nounlo·cal·is·tic, adjective

Words nearby localism

local-content, locale, local examinations, local government, Local Group, localism, localite, locality, localize, local loan, locally

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

How to use localism in a sentence

It’s come at a cost for our sense of community, and it may take a new localism to tame America’s vicious political and cultural polarization.
Check Out These 16 World-Changing Ideas|Nick Fouriezos|March 23, 2021|Ozy
Rights preserved localism, rather than promoting individualism.
Why are our debates about rights so toxic?|Aziz Huq|March 19, 2021|Washington Post
Let him whose own enunciation is chemically free from localism or slovenliness cast the first stone even at "mebbe" and "ruther."
America To-day, Observations and Reflections|William Archer
Under primitive conditions the political groups are small, the tendency to localism exceedingly strong.
Language|Edward Sapir

The various bodies into which Christendom has been split up are infected with the same sort of localism as infects the state.
Our Lady Saint Mary|J. G. H. Barry
As New England township life grew up around the church, so western localism finds its nucleus in the school system.
The Farmer and His Community|Dwight Sanderson
Before you began to talk, I had been fancying that the vice of our journalism was its intense localism.
A Modern Instance|William Dean Howells

British Dictionary definitions for localism

localism

/ (ˈləʊkəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

a pronunciation, phrase, etc, peculiar to a particular locality

another word for provincialism

Derived forms of localism

localist, nounlocalistic, 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

localism

Origin of localism

OTHER WORDS FROM localism

Words nearby localism

Words related to localism

How to use localism in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for localism

Derived forms of localism