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Orientalism

American  
[awr-ee-en-tl-iz-uhm, ohr-] / ˌɔr iˈɛn tlˌɪz əm, ˌoʊr- /

noun

(often lowercase)
  1. a peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of the peoples of Asia, especially the East.

  2. the character or characteristics of the peoples of Asia, especially the East.

  3. the knowledge and study of Asian, especially Eastern languages, literature, etc.


Orientalism British  
/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. knowledge of or devotion to the Orient

  2. an Oriental quality, style, or trait

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of Orientalism

First recorded in 1760–70; oriental + -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.

As you were writing the screenplay and also working on the production, say in the design and casting, were you concerned about issues of cultural appropriation or what people would call Orientalism?

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2022

He’s this manufactured idea of Asian-ness, and part of that conversation about Orientalism is how things like tea and all these things that we have that we associate with certain cultures.

From The Verge • Mar. 9, 2022

Said defined Orientalism as a romanticized view of Arabic culture by French, British and, later, American writers to create a narrative of an exotic land.

From New York Times • Sep. 25, 2019

And he is dressed, as he frequently is in his dandy-conceptualist art, in a plain gray “Mao suit,” which reads here as a laconic visual rejoinder to the exhibit’s lavish Orientalism.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 23, 2019

Under the favouring influence of such an expectation, Orientalism, to which, as we have seen, Grecian thought had spontaneously arrived, was greatly re-enforced.

From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by Draper, John William

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