Meanings
- uncountableAn approach or situation in which something occurs by default, without being explicitly introduced.
US defaultism
2 more examples
But, in being an African-American politician, [Obama] […] introduces race by default. This racial defaultism is what must be considered as far as a potential limitation in the president's bargaining power, despite whites' liberalization about race and race-related policy issues.
2012, William Crotty, editor, The Obama Presidency: Promise and Performance, page 132Defaultism ¶ The defaultist view is that some conversational implicatures are default inferences—presumptive meanings—that the hearer makes unless given reason not to by the speaker.
2019, Shalom Lappin, Chris Fox, The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory, page 185 - uncountableThe often misguided belief that the circumstances surrounding an individual are the default for everyone else.
Origin
Cite this entry
defaultism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defaultism
“defaultism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defaultism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defaultism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defaultism.
Source: defaultism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.