Barbarism Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

1

: the practice or display of barbarian acts, attitudes, or ideas

2

: an idea, act, or expression that in form or use offends against contemporary standards of good taste or acceptability

Examples of barbarism in a Sentence

The barbarism of his dictatorship cannot be ignored. Such barbarisms cannot be tolerated.

Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory. — Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 31 Oct. 2023

View More As knowledge of Greek has become more exotic—the mark of pedants, nerds, and graduates of expensive schools—capturing the barbarism of ancient Greek, and of the ancient Greeks themselves, has become harder. — Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2023

Instead, from college campuses to mainstream media outlets, elite left-wing circles have responded to the terror group’s barbarism by intensifying their denunciations of Israel. — Shany Mor, WSJ, 20 Oct. 2023

But the hours of video Hamas has collected and shared online also have been used by Israel to expose the group’s barbarism. — Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2023

As Israel prosecutes its just war of self-defense against Hamas barbarism, three considerations should be kept in mind. — Peter Berkowitz, National Review, 11 Oct. 2023

Those records formed the basis of his book, a story of barbarism, extreme privation, and continual mortal danger. — Anatoly Kuznetsov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023

The year 1941, a truly ominous year in the struggle between civilization and barbarism, apparently prompted an obscure Oxford scholar -- C. S. Lewis -- to think more deeply about the problem of evil in the world, to great literary effect. — Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 10 Aug. 2023

This idea that the world is and has always been dog-eat-dog is uninformed barbarism masked as wise cynicism. — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 26 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barbarism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler

Dictionary Entries Near barbarism

Cite this Entry

“Barbarism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barbarism. Accessed 11 Nov. 2023.

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