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Synonyms

ism

1 American  
[iz-uhm] / ˈɪz əm /

noun

  1. a distinctive doctrine, theory, system, or practice.

    This is the age of isms.
-ism 2 American  

  1. a suffix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form action nouns from verbs (baptism ); on this model, used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence, etc. (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism; intellectualism ).

-ism 1 British  

suffix

  1. indicating an action, process, or result

    criticism

    terrorism

  2. indicating a state or condition

    paganism

  3. indicating a doctrine, system, or body of principles and practices

    Leninism

    spiritualism

  4. indicating behaviour or a characteristic quality

    heroism

  5. indicating a characteristic usage, esp of a language

    colloquialism

    Scotticism

  6. indicating prejudice on the basis specified

    sexism

    ageism
"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
ISM 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. interstellar medium

"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
ism 3 British  
/ ˈɪzəm /

noun

  1. informal an unspecified doctrine, system, or practice

"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

Etymology

Origin of ism1

Extracted from words with the suffix -ism

Origin of -ism2

From Greek -ismos, -isma noun suffixes, often directly, often through Latin -ismus, -isma, sometimes through French -isme, German -ismus (all ultimately from Greek )

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.

“What you worry about ism this is two hours a day, right?”

From Seattle Times • Jun. 8, 2020

Careerism is futile, yet somehow it is the only ism standing.

From The Guardian • Apr. 23, 2020

But even though this is abstract photography decades before it became an ism in art, his work is seen as scientific.

From Slate • Sep. 13, 2016

Because for all our talk of colorblindness, we don't really want to dispense with the idea of race so much as we want to lose the "ism."

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2014

Long, unfamiliar words ending in tion, ism, and actic, with more talk about “the people” thrown in for good measure, like Big Ma throwing a pinch of salt into the cake batter.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.