ableist

[ ey-buhl-ist ]

adjective

1. relating to, involving, or fostering discrimination against disabled people: ableist architecture;

   ableist language;

   ableist architecture;

   implicitly ableist laws.

2. tending to regard people with a disability as incomplete, diminished, or damaged, and to measure the quality of life with a disability against a nondisabled standard: ableist assumptions.

   an ableist culture;

   ableist assumptions.

noun

1. A person with ableist assumptions, beliefs, or attitudes:

   The work of changing how ableists think often falls to people with disabilities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ableist¹

First recorded in 1980–85; able ( def ) + -ist ( def )

Example Sentences

“Wicked” actor Marissa Bode is speaking out against the ableist discourse surrounding her character, Nessarose, after the movie musical’s debut.

From Los Angeles Times

She has learned that ableist jokes are “made out of ignorance,” she said, and should not be taken personally.

From Los Angeles Times

The remark - which was quickly withdrawn - has angered disability advocates and been labelled "ableist" and "despicable" by MPs across the political spectrum.

From BBC

“Trump holds the ableist, false belief that if a person has a disability, they are less human and less worthy of dignity,” she said in a statement to The Washington Post.

From Salon

But Knight, Larraín, and Jolie are all careful to avoid reducing Callas to an over-the-top ableist stereotype or portraying her as the ruthless prima donna tigress the media painted her as.

From Salon