What does "revisionism" mean?

The advocacy of a revision of some accepted theory, doctrine or a view of historical events.

How do you pronounce "revisionism"?

Pronounced //ɹɪˈvɪʒəˌnɪzəm//.

Common synonyms include: beatnikism, bohemianism, bolshevism, castroism, communism, communist information bureau.

//ɹɪˈvɪʒəˌnɪzəm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The advocacy of a revision of some accepted theory, doctrine or a view of historical events. countable, uncountable
"Tories spent last week boldly whistling their unique brand of the kind of historical revisionism that has played a major part in getting us here."
2
a moderate evolutionary form of Marxism wordnet
3
An evolutionary form of Marxism, abandoning some of its original principles. Marxism, countable, derogatory, uncountable
4
any dangerous departure from the teachings of Marx wordnet

"Most countries indulge in a little historical revisionism."

From revision + -ism.

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