barbarism

American  

[bahr-buh-riz-uhm] / ˈbɑr bəˌrɪz əm /

noun

1. a barbarous or uncivilized state or condition.

2. a barbarous act; something belonging to or befitting a barbarous condition.

3. the use in a language of forms or constructions felt by some to be undesirably alien to the established standards of the language.

4. such a form or construction.

   Some people consider “complected” as a barbarism.

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barbarism British  

/ ˈbɑːbəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. a brutal, coarse, or ignorant act

2. the condition of being backward, coarse, or ignorant

3. a substandard or erroneously constructed or derived word or expression; solecism

4. any act or object that offends against accepted taste

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Other Word Forms

• hyperbarbarism noun

Etymology

Origin of barbarism

1570–80; < Latin barbarismus < Greek barbarismós foreign way of speaking. See barbarous, -ism

Example Sentences

When World War I arrived, Galsworthy—like many humane Europeans of his generation who had believed that mass barbarism was becoming a thing of the past—was shattered.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The Human Rights Commission of the Rio state legislature will demand "explanations" of how the favela was turned into a "theater of war and barbarism," commission head Dani Monteiro told AFP on Tuesday.

From Barron's • Oct. 29, 2025

Are we meant to be implicated in our own indifference, our willful avoidance of the barbarism in our own backyards?

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2023

“We can’t allow Hamas’s barbarism to rob us of our humanity,” he tweeted.

From Slate • Oct. 25, 2023

"Sheer barbarism," he said, watching the bartender and lowering his voice to a whisper.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Related Words

• atrocity
• barbarity
• brutality
• cruelty
• inhumanity