negationism
|ne-ga-tion-ism|
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/nɪˈɡeɪʃənɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/nɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)nɪz(ə)m/
systematic denial
Etymology
'negationism' originates from English 'negation' + the suffix '-ism'; 'negation' comes from Latin 'negatio' (from 'negare') meaning 'to deny', and the suffix '-ism' comes from Greek '-ismos' via Latin/French meaning 'practice, system, or ideology'.
'negationism' was influenced by French 'négationnisme' (used in discussions of Holocaust denial) and was adopted into modern English usage to describe systematic or ideological denial of historical facts.
Initially related simply to 'the act of denying', the term evolved to refer specifically to systematic or ideological denial (often of atrocities or crimes) and the movements that promote such denial.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the ideology or practice of denying, rejecting, or minimizing established facts or historical events (often used for denial of atrocities such as the Holocaust).
Scholars condemned the politician's negationism about wartime atrocities.
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Noun 2
a specific form of historical denial that deliberately distorts or refuses to accept well-documented crimes or atrocities for ideological reasons.
The term 'negationism' is often applied to movements that downplay or deny genocides.
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Last updated: 2025/10/26 01:09