Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

diagonalism

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: di-ag-o-nal-ism
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

5

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The coming together of antagonistic groups around one issue on which they find common ground, for instance the rejection of vaccination.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Diagonalism reminds us that universal Internet access, the attention-absorbing power of social media platforms, and the dynamics of “incitement capitalism” have left the state’s official script ragged with perforations and made space for hostile counterpublics, agents of “disinfotainment,” social movements of rabbit holes, gig conspiracies for the gig economy."
"Just as this book takes on the more general topic of the rise in political polarization and far-right populism in online communication, and therefore is not just about diagonalism, Chapter 4 also has a more general application beyond the analysis of diagonalist discourse."
"I think a lot of that diagonalism came together with people in the new age wellness world who were saying: I have a powerful immune system. I don’t need your vaccines."

Etymology

From diagonal + -ism, based on German Querdenken (literally “diagonal thinking”). Coined by Canadian historian and professor Quinn Slobodian and political scientist William Callison in the context of the German Querdenker (“anti-vaxx”) movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, see quotations.

Usage

Uncountable

Phrases

horseshoe theory

Frequently Paired Words

diagonalist horseshoe theory

Questions

What does diagonalism mean?: The coming together of antagonistic groups around one issue on which they find common ground, for instance the rejection of vaccination.
Where does diagonalism come from?: From diagonal + -ism, based on German Querdenken (literally “diagonal thinking”). Coined by Canadian historian and professor Quinn Slobodian and political scientist William Callison in the context of the German Querdenker (“anti-vaxx”) movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, see quotations.

How to pronounce diagonalism

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