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tokenism

[toh-kuh-niz-uh m]
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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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Origin of tokenism

First recorded in 1960–65; token + -ism
Related formsto·ken·is·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

duplicityhypocrisyinsinceritylieshamjivemouthingtokenism

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British Dictionary definitions for tokenism

tokenism

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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Derived Formstokenistic, adjective
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 tokenism

n.

1962, from token (adj.) in the integration sense + -ism.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper