radicalism

UK/ˈradɪkəlɪz(ə)m/US/ˈradɪkəlɪz(ə)m/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,542 of 15,258leans written

Radicalism is belief in sweeping and fundamental change. Nineteenth-century radicalism.

The root of the word is a root, so radicalism means going to the root rather than being extreme. What counted as radicalism in one century is the settled arrangement of the next.

Definitions of radicalism

1nounradicalismBelief in sweeping and fundamental change.B2+
“The radicalism of one decade became the law of the following one.”

radicalism is a belief.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*wréh₂ds
Latin
rādīcālis — of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical
Middle English
radical
English
radical
English, today
radicalism

From radical + -ism. radical Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”). Compare grassroots.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

radicalism in the wild

As social democrats came to dominate the centre-left in place of classical radicalism, they either re-positioned as conservative liberals or joined forces with social democrats.
Classical radicalism
Cultural radicalism (Danish: Kulturradikalisme) was a movement in first Danish, but later also Nordic culture in general.
Cultural radicalism
Because of this tendency, utopian socialism was also related to classical radicalism, a left-wing liberal ideology.
Utopian socialism

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the rādīcālis family

radical

radicalism — used about once every 54,060 pages · #14,542 · point at the bar for the others

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