Sexism

//ˈsɛksɪzm̩// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The belief that people of one sex (or gender) are inherently different from those of another sex, and generally that one sex is superior to others. countable, uncountable

    "The notion that either gender is superior is sexism."

  2. 2
    discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of the opposite sex wordnet
  3. 3
    Discrimination against, or different treatment of, people on the basis of sex or gender, including the expectation that people should adhere to stereotypical social roles (gender roles) based on sex; (in particular, especially) discrimination against women. countable, uncountable

    "The fact that there is only one woman in a management position in that company makes it easy to believe that sexism runs rampant there."

Example

More examples

"Terms like "sexism" are now in vogue."

Etymology

From sex + -ism.

Related phrases

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