Nativism

noun

noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A policy of favoring native-born inhabitants over immigrants. US, countable, uncountable

    "To understand just how rare, look back into history to, say, the Johnson Act of 1924. Its national-origins quota system reverberated with nativism and racism."

  2. 2
    (philosophy) the philosophical theory that some ideas are innate wordnet
  3. 3
    The policy of perpetuating the culture of the natives of a colonised country. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the policy of perpetuating native cultures (in opposition to acculturation) wordnet
  5. 5
    A cultural element that is native to a colonised country. countable

    "The Columbian Exchange was proof like no other of how, when it comes to food, so often the venue of our greatest nativisms, we, as human beings, easily slip the ties of belonging."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    The doctrine that some skills or abilities are innate and not learned. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A theory that some knowledge of grammar is innate. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
nationalitynativity

Example

More examples

"To understand just how rare, look back into history to, say, the Johnson Act of 1924. Its national-origins quota system reverberated with nativism and racism."

Etymology

From native + -ism.

Related phrases

native born

More for "nativism"

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.