From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishismis‧m /ˈɪzəm/ noun [countable] informal PPPBELIEVEused to describe a set of ideas or beliefs whose name ends in ‘ism’, especially when you think that they are not sensible or practical
Examples from the Corpus
ism• You know where you are with an ism.• Of course one can not reject Darw $ ism just because it has unpleasant social consequences.• No ism held him in its grip.• The organ ism is the cause and effect of itself, its own intrinsic order and organization.• History is full of such isms, and we have hardly seen the last of them.-ism-ism /ɪzəm/ suffix [in nouns] 1 PPPRRa political belief or religion based on a particular principle or the ideas and beliefs of a particular person socialism Buddhism2 DO something/TAKE ACTIONthe action or process of doing something his criticism of my work3 DO something/TAKE ACTIONan action or remark that has a particular quality her witticisms (=funny remarks)4 BEthe state of being like something or someone, or having a particular quality heroism (=being a hero; bravery) magnetism (=being magnetic)5 MIillness caused by too much of something alcoholism6 UNFAIRthe practice of treating people unfairly because of something sexism (=making unfair differences between men and women) racismExamples from the Corpus
-ism• classism• cubism• Darwinism• witticismsOrigin ism (1600-1700) -ism -ism French -isme, from Latin -isma and -ismus, from Greek -isma and -ismos, from verbs ending in -izein; → -IZE 