defeatism

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun acceptance of the inevitability of defeat

Etymology

From defeat + -ism, after French défaitisme, coined in 1915 by Russian writer Grigorij Aleksinskij as a translation of Russian пораже́нчество (poražénčestvo), also coined by him as a derivation of порази́ть (porazítʹ, “to strike, defeat”).

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