westernism

W4E1S1T1E1R1N1I1S1M3

noun

Something that is characteristic of the western part of a region.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

westernism1

nounwesternism (plural westernisms)

plural westernisms

  1. Something that is characteristic of the western part of a region.

Westernism2

nounWesternism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe ideology and culture of the West.

    Synonyms: Occidentalism

  2. historicaluncountableAn 19th-century intellectual ideology which saw Russia's development as dependent upon the adoption of Western European technology and liberal government.

    Slavophilism and Westernism were indeed the two sides of the same set of aspirations and sentiments, one facing an image of the past, and the other that of the future.

    1992, Liah Greenfield, “The Scythian Rome: Russia”, in Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity, revised edition, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 265
    2 more examples

    In the coming decades, the tumult of revolution and war together with the mistakes, compromises, and ambitions of the country's new leaders would bring Russia's "Asiatic" heritage to the fore and sweep away a still-fragile Westernism.

    2000, Robert English, “The Origins and Nature of Old Thinking”, in Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev, Intellectuals, and the End of the Cold War, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 25

    This description of a typical serious circle exposes the limitation which was so fundamental to Russian Westernism after the failure of the Decembrist revolt—the absence of any relation between thought and practice.

    2010, Bruce K. Ward, Dostoyevsky’s Critique of the West: The Quest for the Earthly Paradise, revised edition, Wilfrid Lautier University Press, →ISBN, page 23

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe ideology and culture of the West.

Origin

Westernism · noun

  1. Russianза́падничество
  2. EnglishWesternism

From Western + -ism. The Russian ideology is a calque of Russian за́падничество (západničestvo).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian западничество
  • западничество (zapadničestvo)19th century ideology
Czech západnictví
  • západnictví19th century ideology
French occidentaliste
  • occidentaliste19th century ideology
Italian occidentalismo
  • occidentalismo19th century ideology
Polish okcydentaliz, zapadniczestwo
  • okcydentaliz19th century ideology
  • zapadniczestwo19th century ideology
  • zapadnictwo19th century ideology
Russian за́падничество
  • за́падничество (západničestvo)19th century ideology
Slovak západníctvo
  • západníctvo19th century ideology
Swedish zapadnitjestvo
  • zapadnitjestvo19th century ideology
Ukrainian за́хідництво
  • за́хідництво (záxidnyctvo)19th century ideology
Cite this entry
APA

westernism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism

MLA

“westernism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “westernism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism.

Source: westernism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.