Whateverism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An adherence to the Two Whatevers: We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave. countable, uncountable
"The critique of “whateverism” picked up added momentum in late June, when People's Daily published an article by a “special correspondent” who argued that it was not necessarily a revisionist sin to update the Thought of Mao Zedong periodically in accordance with the requirements of a changing reality."
- 2 A belief in whatever; apathy, nothingarianism. countable, rare, uncountable
"Most religious communities' central problem is not teen rebellion but teenagers' benign “whateverism.”"
- 3 Synonym of ism (an ideology, system of thought, or practice that can be described by a word ending in -ism) countable
"[Terrence] Malick’s ponderously poetic whateverism informs the pacing here, although writer-director David Lowery’s 90-minute mood piece is certainly a bit tighter."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The critique of “whateverism” picked up added momentum in late June, when People's Daily published an article by a “special correspondent” who argued that it was not necessarily a revisionist sin to update the Thought of Mao Zedong periodically in accordance with the requirements of a changing reality."
Etymology
From whatever + -ism.
More for "whateverism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.