unnatural selection
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.45 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
7
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The selection of certain genes caused by the actions of humans, especially the intentional intervention in the breeding of plants or animals in order to preserve selected genetic traits; eugenics, selective breeding or culling.
Derogatory; Humorous; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Is the startling variety of dogs, brassicas and the like, which our unnatural selection has generated, a sort of compensation, I wonder?"
- "Rachel demonstrates that America's racism and its tolerance of lynching (not public health measures, as white supremacist and elitist eugenicists from Spencer to Wiggam had argued) have resulted in unnatural selection for both blacks and whites."
- "Unnatural selection generally acts at cross purposes to the long-term goal of sustainable harvest of wild populations and can reduce the frequency of phenotypes valued by humans. Harvest can affect sexual selection because it tends to remove individuals with particular characteristics, such as large size or elaborate weapons from those of the breeding pool."
- "There has often been talk of eugenics, of breeding humans in such a way as to improve their gene pool—a kind of unnatural selection or self-domestication."