Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ethnic cleansing

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.49 in modern English

Syllables: eth-nic -cleans-ing
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The mass expulsion or killing of people belonging to one ethnic group by those of another.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"These television stations are part of the apparatus and power of Milosevic. This is the apparatus he has used to do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo."
"That’s not because imperialism cares about the fate of Palestine, to which it’s entirely indifferent, but because Israeli aggression and ethnic cleansing, to say nothing of genocide, is a permanent cause of explosive popular anger in the region and increasingly, internationally."

Etymology

Possibly a calque of Serbo-Croatian etničko čišćenje, though this is probably attested later. Popularized by (and still often associated with) the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s; however, versions of the phrase have been attested since the 1860s in various languages (with the earliest attestation translating directly to the phrase being Romanian purificare etnică from 1941) and it probably arose independently on numerous occasions.

Usage

Uncountable

Phrases

ethnically cleanse mass murder religious cleansing

Frequently Paired Words

genocide holocaust mass murder religious cleansing

Synonyms

ethnic purge

Questions

What does ethnic cleansing mean?: The mass expulsion or killing of people belonging to one ethnic group by those of another.
Where does ethnic cleansing come from?: Possibly a calque of Serbo-Croatian etničko čišćenje, though this is probably attested later. Popularized by (and still often associated with) the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s; however, versions of the phrase have been attested since the 1860s in various languages (with the earliest attestation translating directly to the phrase being Romanian purificare etnică from 1941) and it probably arose independently on numerous occasions.

How to pronounce ethnic cleansing

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