fascisms

Noun

fascism (usually uncountable, plural fascisms)

1. (usually) Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
   • Fascism, at any rate the German version, is a form of capitalism that borrows from Socialism just such features as will make it efficient for war purposes... Ownership has never been abolished, there are still capitalists and workers, and—this is the important point, and the real reason why rich...1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. II
   1. (usually, strictest sense) The ideology and practice of the 20th-century Italian movement from which this name came.
      • Today "Fascism" like Russian "Bolshevism" does not know what freedom means and cares less about the principles of liberty and the rights of man. It knows only one law and that is the will of Mussolini and his band of "Black Shirts."1922 December, The American Photo-engraver, volume 15, page 324
2. (broadly, derogatory, usually) Any system of strong autocracy or oligarchy usually to the extent of bending and breaking the law, race-baiting, and/or violence against largely unarmed populations.
   • ...even the people who recklessly fling the word ‘Fascist’ in every direction attach at any rate an emotional significance to it. By ‘Fascism’ they mean, roughly speaking, something cruel, unscrupulous, arrogant, obscurantist, anti-liberal and anti-working-class. Except for the relatively small...1944, George Orwell, What Is Fascism?
3. (derogatory, figuratively, usually) Any extreme reliance on or enforcement of rules and regulations.

   Synonyms:

   sticklerism