barbarism Hear it!

barbarism Definition

bar·ba·rism (bär′bə riz′əm)

noun

    1. the use of words and expressions not standard in a language
    2. a word or expression of this sort (Ex.: “youse” for “you”)
  2. the state of being primitive or lacking civilization
  3. a barbarous action, custom, etc.
  4. brutal behavior; barbarity

Etymology: L barbarismus < Gr barbarismos: see barbarous

barbarism Synonyms

barbarism

n.

inhumanity, brutality, barbarity; see cruelty.

barbarism Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • capitalism: The 1930s and the war that followed showed the outright barbarism of capitalism.
  • war: But was the problem induced by the barbarism of war or by earlier family-related ordeals?
  • century: The overall theme is optimistic - the barbarism of the 20th century did not destroy civilization or crush the spirit of man.
  • society: Indeed, globalization of the world village exposed even the most developed societies to the religious barbarism of most backward societies.
  • system: The treatment of refugees and asylum seekers is another example of the barbarism of this system.
  • time: The barbarism of modern times is still the enslavement to technology, that is to say, to division of labor.

Converse of object

  • see: Acts of barbarism not seen in Europe since the Second World War.
  • grow: Who intends to act against this growing barbarism which appears ready to sweep all before it in our country?
  • mean: There was a time when paganism meant barbarism and Christianity meant civilization.

Adjective modifier

  • such: Do you think that there is any place for pride amidst such barbarism?
  • Nazi: Moreover the emphasis was on Nazi barbarism which claimed many millions of other victims.
  • capitalist: Jasenovac was, in its own way, as important a memorial to capitalist barbarism as Auschwitz.
  • momentary: Society finds itself in a " state of momentary barbarism " .
  • primitive: Your psychosis, depressions, murderous impulses, short sighted narrow minded and utterly primitive barbarism is tearing into me.
  • medieval: India, a staunch opponent of the Taliban, accused them of ' medieval barbarism ' .
barbarism Quotes

America is the only country in history that miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to decadence without the usual interval of civilization.

—Clemenceau, Georges

The best thing about the violence in Northern Ireland is that it's all so ancient and honorable† The Irish are in the same terrific position as the Shiites in Lebanon, the peasants in El Salvador, the blacks in America, the Jews in Palestine, the Palestinians in Israel (and everybody everywhere, if you read your history)öenough barbarism has been visited on the Irish to excuse all barbarities by the Irish barbarians.

—O'Rourke, P(atrick) J(ake)

We are fighting in the quarrel of civilization against barbarism, of liberty against tyranny.Germany has become a menace to the whole world. She is the most dangerous enemy of liberty now existing.

—Roosevelt,Theodore

When men fail to drive toward a goal or purpose, but only drift, the drift is always towards barbarism.

—Reagan, Ronald Wilson

The future of humanity is uncertain, even in the most prosperous countries, and the quality of life deteriorates; and yet I believe that what is being discovered about the infinitely large and infinitely small is sufficient to absolve this end of the century and millennium.What a very feware acquiring in knowledge of the physical world will perhaps cause this period not to be judged as a pure return of barbarism.

—Levi, Primo

You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilisation from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet of glass.

—Buchan,John, 1st BaronTweedsmuir