ism
/ˈɪz.əm/
ism noun: an ideology, system of thought, or practice that can be described by a word ending in -ism.
Noun (1)
ism (plural isms)
- An ideology, system of thought, or practice that can be described by a word ending in -ism.
- […] his religion, his worship was like his daily bread to him; — which he did not take the trouble to talk much about; which he merely ate at stated intervals, and lived and did his work upon! This is Abbot Samson’s Catholicism of the Twelfth Century; — something like the Ism of all true men in all...1843, Thomas Carlyle, chapter XV, in Past and Present, book 2
- If it gives way to sentimentalism, or sensibility, or political mysticism, or adopts an affectation of radicalism, or any other ism, or molds its institutions so as to round out to a more complete fulfillment somebody's theory of the universe, it may fall into an era of revolution and political...1887 August, W[illiam] G[raham] Sumner, “State Interference”, in North American Review
- Synonyms:
- whateverism
- A form of discrimination, such as racism or sexism.
- Parents and educators play a critical role in helping children of all ages navigate current events and talk openly about the historical roots of the various ‘isms in our country.2020 June 6, Lisa Selin Davis, “Children aren’t born racist. Here’s how parents can stop them from becoming racist.”, in CNN, spoken by Sarah Gaither, archived from the original on 19 Jan 2024
Proper noun capitalized: ISM
ISM
- Initialism of Institute for Supply Management.
- The ISM report came as another worrying sign following last month's surprisingly low number, which ended a 34-month growth streak.2012 August 1, Emily Jane Fox, “U.S. manufacturing contracts again”, in CNN Money, archived from the original on 25 May 2025
- Initialism of Indian Summer Monsoon.
Noun (2) capitalized: ISM
ISM (plural ISMs)
- Initialism of Imperial Service Medal.
- Abbreviation of interstellar medium.
- Initialism of industrial scientific medical.
ism meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
ism in Hindi
- आई. एस. एम, इस्म
ism in Tamil
- இஸ்ம், ஐ. எஸ். எம்
ism in Marathi
- आय. एस. एम, इसम
ism in Urdu
- آئی ایس ایم
More languagesFewer languages
- ism in Bengali
- ইসম, আই. এস. এম
- ism in Telugu
- ఇస్మ్, ఐ. ఎస్. ఎం, ఐ. ఎస్. ఎమ్
- ism in Malayalam
- ഐ. എസ്. എം, ഇസ്ം
- ism in Kannada
- ಇಸ್ಮ್, ಐ. ಎಸ್. ಎಂ, ಐ. ಎಸ್. ಎಮ್
- ism in Punjabi
- ਆਈ. ਐੱਸ. ਐੱਮ, ਆਈਐੱਸਐੱਮ, ਆਈ. ਐਸ. ਐਮ
- ism in Gujarati
- આઈ. એસ. એમ
- ism in Odia
- ଆଇ. ଏସ୍. ଏମ୍, ଇସ୍ମ୍, ଆଇ. ଏସ୍. ଏମ
- ism in Nepali
- इस्म्
- ism in Vietnamese
- chủ nghĩa, học thuyết
Examples of ism in a sentence
- This is Abbot Samson’s Catholicism of the Twelfth Century; — something like the Ism of all true men in all true centuries, I fancy!1843, Thomas Carlyle, chapter XV, in Past and Present, book 2:
- An ism does not have to possess the fearful implements of state power to cut off a deviant or heretical member.1965, Bertram David Wolfe, Marxism, One Hundred Years in the Life of a Doctrine, page 357:
- In his exposition, he has failed to achieve the identification of situation, theory, and policy necessary to create an ism.1969, Walter E. Minchinton, Mercantilism; System Or Expediency?, page xi:
- A person should not believe in an ism – he should believe in himself.1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, spoken by Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick):
Synonyms of ism
Forms of ism
| plural | isms |
|---|---|
| plural | ISMs |
Origin of ism
From the suffix -ism (“belief”), particularly (in the 19th century) in the sense of "social movement". Compare phobia, from -phobia, sophy, from -sophy, itis, from -itis, and ana, from -ana.
Words formed from ism
Words that rhyme with ism
- prism
- schism
- anglicism
- hypocorism
- abysm
- chrisom
- epiphenomenalism
- Frenchism
- Indianism
- jism
- 'tism
- ABDLism
10 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about ism
- What does ism mean?
- Ism means an ideology, system of thought, or practice that can be described by a word ending in -ism.
- What is ism in Hindi?
- Ism in Hindi is आई. एस. एम, इस्म. See Ism meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use ism in a sentence?
- This is Abbot Samson’s Catholicism of the Twelfth Century; — something like the Ism of all true men in all true centuries, I fancy!
- What part of speech is ism?
- Ism can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce ism?
- Ism is pronounced /ˈɪz.əm/.
- What is the plural of ism?
- The plural of ism is isms.
Words near ism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ism (page history and authors); ISM (page history and authors); ism (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ism (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ism.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.