English Explanatory Dictionary

defeatism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Acceptance of defeat without struggle.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/ en-us-defeatism.ogg

Word forms

defeatism defeatisms

Etymology

From defeat + -ism, after French défaitisme, coined in 1915 by Russian writer Grigorij Aleksinskij as a translation of Russian пораже́нчество (poražénčestvo), also coined by him as a derivation of порази́ть (porazítʹ, “to strike, defeat”).

Related words

defeatist
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