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Synonyms

pacifism

American  
[pas-uh-fiz-uhm] / ˈpæs əˌfɪz əm /
Also pacificism

noun

  1. opposition to war or violence of any kind.

  2. refusal to engage in military activity because of one's principles or beliefs.

  3. the principle or policy that all differences among nations should be adjusted without recourse to war.

pacifism British  
/ ˈpæsɪˌfɪzəm /

noun

  1. the belief that violence of any kind is unjustifiable and that one should not participate in war

  2. the belief that international disputes can be settled by arbitration rather than war

"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
pacifism Cultural  

  1. The view that war is morally unacceptable and never justified (see conscientious objector). The term is sometimes applied to the belief that international disputes should be settled peacefully.

Other Word Forms

  • antipacifism noun
  • propacifism noun

Etymology

Origin of pacifism

1905–10; < pacifisme. See pacific, -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.

To Garrison, whom Mr. Kurlansky credits as a founder of American pacifism, violence was always wrong, no matter the circumstances.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 9, 2025

They’ve objected to books which expose readers to evolution, pacifism, magic, women achieving things outside of the home and “false views of death.”

From Salon • Jul. 2, 2025

But writer-director Todd Komarnicki’s aggressively lionizing, faith-driven movie about Bonhoeffer seems uninterested in any complexity about pacifism and violence coexisting in one man.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2024

The petition called the invitation antithetical to the pacifism Martin Luther King Jr., a Morehouse alumnus, expressed when opposing the Vietnam War.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

After a page-long digression on pacifism, Christianity, and the Roman Empire, Keegan returns to what is wrong with Clausewitz’s dictum and with the modern understanding of war it captures.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.