both-sides

verb

To engage in bothsidesism, to treat a policy debate or controversy as a conflict between two equally valid (or equally dangerous, etc) viewpoints.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbboth-sides (third-person singular simple present both-sideses, present participle both-sidesing, simple past and past participle both-sidesed)

present singular third person both-sideses · participle present both-sidesing · participle past both-sidesed · past both-sidesed

  1. derogatoryTo engage in bothsidesism, to treat a policy debate or controversy as a conflict between two equally valid (or equally dangerous, etc) viewpoints.

    2020, February 4, "Lisa Murkowski Sick of All the Corruption, Will Vote to Let It Continue", Wonkette. "Once she'd adequately both-sidesed Congress and Tump, she fell back to more comfortable Republican talking points […] "

    2 more examples

    2019, December 30, Greg Sargent, "Explosive New Revelations Just Weakened Trump's Impeachment Defense", The Washington Post Plum Line blog. "McConnell badly needs the media's both-sidesing instincts to hold firm against the brute facts of the situation."

    It’s certainly true that there are unhinged people across the political spectrum and politicians from both sides have been targeted for violence. However, “both-sidesing” this issue is dangerously dishonest.

    2022 November 2, Arwa Mahdawi, “Jokes about Paul Pelosi aren’t just in bad taste. They normalize political violence”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

both-sides. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/both-sides

MLA

“both-sides.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/both-sides. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “both-sides,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/both-sides.

Source: both-sides on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.