westernism

[ wes-ter-niz-uhm ]

noun(often initial capital letter)
  1. a word, idiom, or practice characteristic of people of the Occident or of thewestern U.S.

Origin of westernism

1
An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; western + -ism

Words Nearby westernism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use westernism in a sentence

  • Once on the west bank of the Mississippi, to use a westernism, "he was on his own stamping ground."

  • I know that she's impulsive, and she's free in her manners with strangers; but I suppose that's her westernism.

    Dr. Breen's Practice | William Dean Howells
  • Borne up on her breezy westernism was a fragrant reserve, a fine reticence that disengaged a tantalising promise.

    Sally of Missouri | R. E. Young
  • The full impact of westernism upon the Orient as a whole dates only from about the middle of the nineteenth century.

    The New World of Islam | Lothrop Stoddard
  • But even in regions where European control is still nominal, the permeation of westernism has gone on apace.

    The New World of Islam | Lothrop Stoddard

British Dictionary definitions for westernism

westernism

/ (ˈwɛstəˌnɪzəm) /


noun
  1. a word, habit, practice, etc, characteristic of western people or of the American West

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