ostrichism
/ˈɑstɹit͡ʃˌɪzəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "After a short delay, during which several aristocratic carriages rolled by—at which periods the Marquess adopted the celebrated system of ostrichism, and hid his head—the omnibus rattled on towards town."
- "In a second, we all three fell back on the roof of the coach, hiding our faces with our hands, and committing that gross act of ostrichism of fancying, because we could not see that we escaped observation."
- "[Torpey] had, upon the principles of ostrichism, sewn up a valuable diamond in the waistband of his trousers, which he fondly intended for his fond and loving wife; and accomplice in his crimes; […]"
- "First let us have no ostrichism in our preparations against an invasion of this island. There are still some who scorn the idea. Can [Adolf] Hitler succeed where Napoleon failed? No, they say, the Channel is impregnable. We would do better to prepare for the worst."
- "[…] Greece was truly 'in a league of its own', with its combination of persistent fiscal imbalances and protracted losses of competitiveness. At the bottom of this was a peculiar form of ostrichism, an ostrich-like behaviour, eagerly adopted by Greek policy makers; in fact, they buried their heads in the ground, almost uninterrupted, until well into 2009. Routine deviation from targets, over-optimistic assessment of planned procedures and missed timetables quickly came to define the Greek approach to its obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact."
Etymology
From ostrich + -ism. The ostrich is often erroneously believed to bury its head in the sand to hide from predators.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɑstɹit͡ʃˌɪzəm/
- British English: /ˈɒstɹɪtʃɪz(ə)m/