Parentism
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Discrimination against parents. uncountable
"I've come to label an attitude that lies in most of us and dominates in some as 'parentism' - that is presuming deficiences in people because they are parents."
- 2 Pathological or unhealthy parenting. uncountable
"Five irrational cognitive, emotive, and physical behaviors are described, and it is suggested that Rational Behavior Therapy, utilizing such techniques as rational self-analysis and rational emotive imagery, can help parents rid themselves of "parentism.""
- 3 Parental determinism; the belief that parenting is responsible for the character and behavior of the child. uncountable
"Why do so few Americans recognize the effects of “parentism,” if you will? Why is there still no popular reform movement directed against the problem of wildly unequal starts?"
- 4 The promotion of having children as a social ideal. uncountable
"Amongst you, O civilizees! parentism ruling in exclusive development is judged praiseworthy, because it accords with the civilizee régime; but at a few paces from your civilizee countries, and from Morocco to Pekin, parentism is no longer praiseworthy; the system of seraglios and eunuchs, with the sale of women, the custom of separating mothers from their male children when nine years old, leaves no development for parentism, for the enjoyments of home and of the family; the only one that remains is for masculine tactism, or the passion of the pleasures of touch."
- 5 The granting of absolute authority to parents. uncountable
"Hence in this case, it can be demonstrated conclusively that Freud was blinded by parentism, that he consistently misinterpreted the defensive communications of the parents as the inevitable psycho-sexual development of the child."
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- 6 Paternal or maternal feeling and behavior. uncountable
"I debated the matter—Reason was driven from her post and parentism prevail'd."
- 7 The assumption of a parental role in the context of a relationship other than the parent-child relationship. countable, uncountable
"Joady would joke in an attempt to escape Susan's image of parentism, although she knew all of their differing tactics were intended as loving nudges to keep Gerda from "declining.""
- 8 A cliché used by parents with their children. countable
"I've even got subtitles for parentisms like "you're going to poke somebody's eye out with that"."
Example
More examples"I've come to label an attitude that lies in most of us and dominates in some as 'parentism' - that is presuming deficiences in people because they are parents."
Etymology
From parent + -ism.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.