retreatism

[ ri-tree-tiz-uhm ]

noun

Sociology.

1. the rejection of culturally prescribed goals and the conventional means for attaining them.

Other Word Forms

• re·treatist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of retreatism¹

retreat + -ism

Example Sentences

“The governor has an opportunity to contrast a bold, well-thought-out foreign policy with Mr. Trump’s opaque retreatism,” Ms. Strassel wrote.

From New York Times

The New York Herald Tribune, aware that isolationism was not the word for the Hoover Doctrine, decided to call it "retreatism."

From Time Magazine Archive