McCarthyism
pronunciation
How to pronounce McCarthyism in British English:
UK [məˈkɑ:θiɪzəm]
How to pronounce McCarthyism in American English:
US [məˈkɑrθiɪzəm]
-
- Noun:
- unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty (as by saying they were Communists)
Word Origin
- McCarthyism
- 1950, with -ism + name of U.S. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (1908-1957), leader of U.S. anti-Communist agitation. The term is said to have been coined by "Washington Post" political cartoonist Herbert Block ("Herblock"). The surname is from Irish Mac Carthaigh "son of Carthach" (Welsh Caradawc), an ancient Celtic name, also known in its Latinized form, Caractacus (last of the British leaders to resist Rome, captured 51 C.E.)
Example
- 1. Next came civil war , abu ghraib , rendition , waterboarding , official mccarthyism , wiretapping and the slow destruction of key constitutional liberties .
- 2. Howard fast 's sympathy for socialism was reflected in his novel spartacus , thus he became a victim of mccarthyism in america ; he was even blacklisted by the fbi for writing the novel .
- 3. But whereas robeson 's activism ran headlong into early cold-war paranoia , blacklists and mccarthyism , mr belafonte was luckier : his career rose more or less in tandem with the american civil-rights movement .
- 4. Still , many western intellectuals , recoiling from the excesses of mccarthyism , and hampered by lack of firsthand information , gave the benefit of the doubt to mao in the decade that followed .
- 5. Hefner , known around the world by his nickname , hef , has championed sexual freedom and civil rights , published stories challenging mccarthyism and the vietnam war , and backed gay causes and the legalization of marijuana .