antisemitism
2 synonyms for antisemitism, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — Hostility, prejudice or discrimination directed at Jewish people, whether as individuals, as a community or through conspiracy theories about Jewish power.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Jew-hatred
anti-Jewish prejudice
How to use antisemitism
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
rise in antisemitism
combat antisemitism
antisemitic tropes
institutional antisemitism
Neutral in register but grave in subject. The unhyphenated spelling is now the recommended standard.
Etymology
A calque of German Antisemitismus, coined in the nineteenth century from anti- 'against' + Semitism; despite its form, it has only ever meant hostility towards Jews.
Full origin of antisemitism →Frequently asked questions
Should it be written antisemitism or anti-Semitism?
Most major Jewish organisations, scholars and style guides now prefer the unhyphenated antisemitism with a lower-case s. The hyphenated form implies there is a thing called Semitism that the prejudice opposes, which there is not — the word has always meant hostility to Jews specifically.
Does antisemitism include prejudice against Arabs?
No, despite Arabic being a Semitic language. The word was created in nineteenth-century Europe to mean hostility towards Jews and has never meant anything else in practice. Prejudice against Arabs is called anti-Arab racism.
What is the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism?
Anti-Zionism is opposition to the Zionist political project or to the policies of the Israeli state; antisemitism is prejudice against Jews as Jews. The two are distinct in principle, though they can overlap when criticism relies on antisemitic tropes or holds Jews collectively responsible for a government's actions.
