pogrom

[puh-gruhm, -grom, poh-]

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noun

an organized massacre, especially of Jews.

Origin of pogrom

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

Can be confusedpogrom program

Synonyms for pogrom

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pogrom ON THESAURUS.COM

slaughter, butchery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pogrom

butchery, extermination, annihilation, bloodbath, genocide, carnage, bloodletting, slaughter, murder, bloodshed, decimation, assassination

Examples from the Web for pogrom

Contemporary Examples of pogrom

As of this writing, Ukraine is drawing to a close the bloodiest day of a 72-hour pogrom.
Ukraine Is On the Verge Of War And Putin Is To Blame
Michael Weiss
February 20, 2014
The pro-Nazi Palestinian leader, Haj Amin al-Husseini, instigated the Farhud pogrom against the Jews of Iraq in 1941.
Denigrating Jewish Refugees
Lyn Julius
August 9, 2012

Historical Examples of pogrom

Once more the days of expecting a pogrom in Uliassutai returned to us.
Beasts, Men and Gods
Ferdinand Ossendowski
Often we heard that the pogrom was led by a priest carrying a cross before the mob.
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
A massacre (pogrom) of the Jews was perpetrated here in 1903.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 7
Various
The Whites put up a provocateur as before a pogrom in Russia.
The Soul of John Brown
Stephen Graham
The doctor gives us a picture of a pogrom in a tiny Russian province town.
Unicorns
James Huneker

British Dictionary definitions for pogrom

pogrom

noun

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

Word Origin for pogrom

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

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

Word Origin and History for pogrom

1882, from Yiddish pogrom, from Russian pogromu "devastation, destruction," from po- "by, through, behind, after" (cognate with Latin post-; see post-) + gromu "thunder, roar," from PIE imitative root *ghrem- (see grim).

pogrom in Culture

pogrom

[(puh-grum, puh-grom, poh-gruhm)]

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

Note

Pogroms were common in Russia during the nineteenth century.