tokenism

American  

[toh-kuh-niz-uhm] / ˈtoʊ kəˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. the practice or policy of making no more than a token effort or gesture, as in offering opportunities to minorities equal to those of the majority.

2. any legislation, admissions policy, hiring practice, etc., that demonstrates only minimal compliance with rules, laws, or public pressure.

   Admitting one woman to the men's club was merely tokenism.

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tokenism British  

/ ˈtəʊkəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. the practice of making only a token effort or doing no more than the minimum, esp in order to comply with a law

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Other Word Forms

• tokenistic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of tokenism

First recorded in 1960–65; token + -ism

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tokenism

It’s cool to see him have a relationship with a woman and then a man, and for it not to feel like tokenism or just a label.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

But a senior minister dismissed that as a "misconception about the bill fuelling tokenism".

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024

Opponents say it would hand excessive powers to the body, while others have described it as tokenism and toothless.

From Reuters ● Aug. 23, 2023

These days, things are far from equitable, but in most of the culture, female representation has grown well past the Smurfette-style tokenism.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2023

Following a photo shoot that felt more like a family portrait session, Chavarria and Apollo spoke at length about faith, tokenism and how to balance swagger with vulnerability.

From New York Times ● May 8, 2023

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