Word.ws English Dictionary

foreignism

Syllables: for·eign·ism

foreignism noun: a tendency to favor what is foreign.

Noun

foreignism (countable and uncountable, plural foreignisms)

  1. (uncountable) A tendency to favor what is foreign.
  2. (countable, rhetoric) A trait, custom, phrase, or characteristic typical of a foreign country or language.
    Synonyms:
    alienism

Synonyms of foreignism

Forms of foreignism

pluralforeignisms

Origin of foreignism

From foreign + -ism. First attested in 1779.

Words formed from foreignism

Questions about foreignism

What does foreignism mean?
Foreignism means a tendency to favor what is foreign.
What part of speech is foreignism?
Foreignism is a noun.
What is the plural of foreignism?
The plural of foreignism is foreignisms.

Words near foreignism in the dictionary

  1. foreigner
  2. foreigners
  3. foreignership
  4. foreignise
  5. foreignising
  6. foreignism
  7. foreignisms
  8. foreignist
  9. foreignists
  10. foreignization
  11. foreignize

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: foreignism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “foreignism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/foreignism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.