Federalism

noun

noun ·5 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A system of national government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of regions with delimited self-governing authority. countable, uncountable

    "Where consociationalism and federalism overlay one another, moreover, the continuity of the latter depends on the stability of consociationalism."

  2. 2
    the idea of a federal organization of more or less self-governing units wordnet
  3. 3
    The belief that such a system is superior to other forms of government. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    Covenantalism. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
centralismcollectivismcommunismconstitutionalismdemocratismfascism

Example

More examples

"Simpson's authoritative rule is bringing an end to our long-cherished federalism."

Etymology

From French fédéralisme. By surface analysis, federal + -ism.

Related phrases

anti-federalismcooperative federalismdual federalismlayer cake federalismmarble cake federalismself governing

More for "federalism"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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