McCarthyism

[muh-kahr-thee-iz-uhm]

noun

1. the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence.

2. the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.

McCarthyism

/ məˈkɑːθɪˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the practice of making unsubstantiated accusations of disloyalty or Communist leanings

2. the use of unsupported accusations for any purpose

McCarthyism

1. The extreme opposition to communism shown by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and his supporters in the 1940s and 1950s.

McCarthyism has become a general term for the hysterical investigation of a government's opponents or the publicizing of accusations against these opponents without sufficient evidence to support the charges.

Other Word Forms

• McCarthyite noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of McCarthyism¹

1950, after J. R. McCarthy; -ism

Word History and Origins

Origin of McCarthyism¹

C20: after Joseph _McCarthy

Example Sentences

Many are framing this moment of political vertigo as a new Red Scare, a 21st-century McCarthyism.

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She describes it as “about McCarthyism and the Red Scare. It’s a little bit of a murder mystery too.”

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Berkeley, as Aptheker describes it, was still caught in the tail end of the McCarthyism of the 1950s, when the 1st Amendment was almost felled by fear of government reprisals.

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In the 1950s, the rise of McCarthyism saw it used to accuse suspected communists of plotting against America, resulting in the Hollywood blacklists.

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“It’s always dangerous to draw political parallels between the past and present,” Herz said, “but Mann went from becoming an admirer of FDR to experiencing the political shift to McCarthyism.”

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