noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act of eating another of one's own species. uncountable, usually

   "Cannibalism does not openly figure amongst aboriginal misdeeds, but in the northern part of Queensland it is no uncommon vice."

2. 2
   the practice of eating the flesh of your own kind wordnet
3. 3
   An act in which one thing consumes or takes over another of the same kind. figuratively, uncountable, usually
4. 4
   In speech, the occurrence of one word eliding part or all of the next word, because the syllables are the same. uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms

animalityanthropophagyantropofagiaappetitebarbaritybestiality

Example

More examples

"First the immigrants, then you. Our solidarity - the answer to social cannibalism."

Etymology

From cannibal + -ism.

Related phrases

mad cow disease

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.