pogrom

[puh-gruhm, -grom, poh-]

noun

1. an organized massacre, especially of Jews.

   Synonyms: butchery, slaughter

pogrom

/ ˈpɒɡrəm /

noun

1. an organized persecution or extermination of an ethnic group, esp of Jews

pogrom

1. A massacre or persecution instigated by the government or by the ruling class against a minority group, particularly Jews (see also Jews).

Pogroms were common in Russia during the nineteenth century.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pogrom¹

1880–85; (< Yiddish ) < Russian pogróm literally, destruction, devastation (of a town, country, etc., as in war), noun derivative of pogromít’, equivalent to po- perfective prefix + gromít’ to destroy, devastate, derivative of grom thunder

Word History and Origins

Origin of pogrom¹

C20: via Yiddish from Russian: destruction, from po- like + grom thunder

Example Sentences

His Tevye, a patriarch trying to hold his family together amid the double assault of poverty and pogroms, was especially touching in his appeal to the Almighty to ease up on the litany of suffering.

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In March, pro-government factions committed what rights groups called a pogrom in Syria’s coastal region, torturing, kidnapping and killing some 1,500 people from the Alawite community.

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A number of those factions then engaged in a pogrom against Alawite civilians, residents and activists said.

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While Jewish people had already been settling in the area, pogroms across Russia and neighbouring countries following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 saw more people arrive in an already-crowded part of town.

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The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, described the incidents as deeply alarming, and noted for some they were a reminder of historical pogroms against Jews.

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Related Words

• annihilation 
• bloodbath 
• bloodletting 
• butchery 
• carnage 
• extermination www.thesaurus.com
• genocide