Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

defeatism

/dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.14 in modern English

Syllables: de-featism
IPA: /dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Acceptance of defeat without struggle.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Objective assessment is good, but defeatism will reduce our potentials even when the prospects for victory have never been nearer."

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”).

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: défaitisme
Suffix: defeat

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

defeatisms (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

defeatist

Rhymes With

pietism

Questions

How do you pronounce defeatism?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/.
What does defeatism mean?: Acceptance of defeat without struggle.
Where does defeatism come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce defeatism

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “defeatism”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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