localism

[ loh-kuh-liz-uhm ]

noun

1. a word, phrase, pronunciation, or manner of speaking that is peculiar to one locality.
2. a local custom.
3. excessive devotion to and promotion of the interests of a particular locality; sectionalism.
4. attachment to a particular locality.

localism

/ ˈləʊkəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a pronunciation, phrase, etc, peculiar to a particular locality
2. another word for provincialism

Derived Forms

• ˌlocalˈistic, adjective
• ˈlocalist, noun

Other Words From

• local·ist noun
• local·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of localism¹

First recorded in 1815–25; local + -ism

Example Sentences

Surfers can be notoriously territorial, and while I didn’t encounter any hostile localism at Westport, surfing’s growing popularity in Western Washington, combined with limited jetty parking, may occasionally raise tensions.

From Seattle Times

As you read the list keep in mind that localism of ownership is critical and that newspapers should never again become controlled by absent investors who do not care about our communities.

From Seattle Times

Childhood memories, marketing and a fashion for localism came together to make milk tea a totem of Hong Kong culture.

From Seattle Times

“Progress today is called localism. It’s called defending borders. It’s called protectionism,” he told the AP in 2019, ahead of European elections, rejecting what he called “massive immigration.”

From Seattle Times

Leung was a leader of Hong Kong Indigenous, a now defunct political group that organised anti-China protests and advocated “localism”, promoting a local Hong Kong identity instead of a Chinese one.

From Reuters

Related Words

• accent
• idiom
• jargon
• language
• lingo
• patois
• pronunciation
• slang
• terminology
• tongue
• vernacular
• vocabulary