whataboutery

British

/ ˌwɑːtəˈbaʊtərɪ /

noun

(of two communities in conflict) the practice of repeatedly blaming the other side and referring to events from the past

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Pointing to the issue of former Welsh Reform leader Nathan Gill being jailed for accepting Kremlin bribes, he added: "It's not about whataboutery, I think it's about proportionality."

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

There are myriad reasons for that, before we get to the futile whataboutery that tends to clog social media on subjects like this.

From New York Times • Apr. 24, 2020

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023