Meanings
nimbyism1
plural nimbyisms · alternative NIMBYism · alternative Nimbyism
- countablederogatoryuncountableThe ideology of a nimby.
Are the objections to the airport legitimate or is it just a case of nimbyism?
2 more examples
All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism.
2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023And in the case of New York, NIMBYism is ultimately the reason a great global city has become a one-industry town, leaving it unusually vulnerable to pandemic-driven economic dislocations.
2022 January 18, Paul Krugman, “Why a Blue City Is Feeling the Blues”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 01 Mar 2022
NIMBYism2
- uncountableAlternative letter-case form of nimbyism.
And in the case of New York, NIMBYism is ultimately the reason a great global city has become a one-industry town, leaving it unusually vulnerable to pandemic-driven economic dislocations.
2022 January 18, Paul Krugman, “Why a Blue City Is Feeling the Blues”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 01 Mar 20221 more example
NIMBY stands for “Not in my backyard,” an acronym that proliferated in the early 1980s to describe neighbors who fight nearby development, especially anything involving apartments. The word was initially descriptive (the Oxford English Dictionary added “NIMBY” in 1989 and has since tacked on “NIMBYism” and “NIMBYish”) but its connotation has harshened as rent and home prices have exploded.
2022 June 5, Conor Dougherty, “Twilight of the NIMBY”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Jun 2022
Nimbyism3
- uncountableAlternative letter-case form of nimbyism.
Reading opposition to SB 50 and other efforts at increasing density, I’m struck by an unsettling thought: What Republicans want to do with I.C.E. and border walls, wealthy progressive Democrats are doing with zoning and Nimbyism.
2019 May 22, Farhad Manjoo, “America’s Cities Are Unlivable. Blame Wealthy Liberals.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2019
Origin
Cite this entry
nimbyism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbyism
“nimbyism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbyism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nimbyism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbyism.
Source: nimbyism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.