denialism

plural denialisms

1. uncountableusuallyThe practice of rejecting propositions which are strongly supported by scientific or historical evidence, and often of seeking to influence policy processes and outcomes accordingly.

   climate denialism; vaccine denialism; Holocaust denialism

   3 more examples

   At this point Rudd confronts a new denialism. Just as John Howard was wrong to deny the confessional value of the apology, many Laborites are wrong to deny the abject failures of past generation policies.

   2008 February 16, Paul Kelly, The Australian

   Denialism is an expansion, an intensification, of denial. At root, denial and denialism are simply a subset of the many ways humans have developed to use language to deceive others and themselves. Denial can be as simple as refusing to accept that someone else is speaking truthfully.

   2018 August 3, Keith Kahn-Harris, “Denialism: what drives people to reject the truth”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   In other words, the pattern of resistance to the coronavirus vaccines looks less like COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and more like COVID-19 denialism.

   2021 April 27, David A. Graham, “It’s Not Vaccine Hesitancy. It’s COVID-19 Denialism.”, in The Atlantic

   Synonyms: negationism