Etymology

McCarthyism

M3C3C3A1R1T1H4Y4I1S1M3

Today it means: The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism. Full definition →

English McCarthy ← Irish Mac Carthaigh
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The story

  1. IrishMac Carthaigh
  2. EnglishMcCarthy
  3. English todayMcCarthyism

From McCarthy + -ism, named after United States Senator Joseph McCarthy. Originates from a 1950 Washington Post political cartoon by Herbert Block.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.