Meanings
- euphemisticuncountableThe mass expulsion or killing of one ethnic group by another.
These television stations are part of the apparatus and power of Milosevic. This is the apparatus he has used to do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
1999 April 24, Martin Kettle, Alex Brummer, quoting Tony Blair, “The bombing goes on”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 02 Jan 20231 more example
That’s not because imperialism cares about the fate of Palestine, to which it’s entirely indifferent, but because Israeli aggression and ethnic cleansing, to say nothing of genocide, is a permanent cause of explosive popular anger in the region and increasingly, internationally.
2026 May 28, David Finkel, “Middle East War Expands: A Spreading Global Disaster”, in Against the Current, volume 41, number 2, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, page 6Synonyms: ethnic purge
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe mass expulsion or killing of one ethnic group by another.
Origin
- Serbo-Croatianetničko čišćenje
- Englishethnic cleansing
Possibly a calque of Serbo-Croatian etničko čišćenje, though this is probably attested later. Popularized by (and still often associated with) the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s; however, versions of the phrase have been attested since the 1860s in various languages (with the earliest attestation translating directly to the phrase being Romanian purificare etnică from 1941) and it probably arose independently on numerous occasions.
More words from Serbo-Croatian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَطْهِير عِرْقِيّ
- تَطْهِير عِرْقِيّ (taṭhīr ʕirqiyy)ethnic cleansing
Basque garbiketa etniko
- garbiketa etnikoethnic cleansing
Bulgarian етни́ческо прочи́стване
- етни́ческо прочи́стване (etníčesko pročístvane)ethnic cleansing
Catalan neteja ètnica
- neteja ètnicaethnic cleansing
Chinese Mandarin 種族清洗 /种族清洗, 民族淨化 /民族净化
- 種族清洗 /种族清洗 (zhǒngzú qīngxǐ)ethnic cleansing
- 民族淨化 /民族净化 (mínzú jìnghuà)ethnic cleansing
- 種族淨化 /种族净化 (zhǒngzú jìnghuà)ethnic cleansing
Czech etnická čistka
- etnická čistkaethnic cleansing
Danish etnisk udrensning
- etnisk udrensningethnic cleansing
Dutch etnische zuivering
- etnische zuiveringethnic cleansing
Esperanto etna purigado
- etna purigadoethnic cleansing
Estonian etniline puhastus
- etniline puhastusethnic cleansing
Finnish etninen puhdistus
- etninen puhdistusethnic cleansing
French nettoyage ethnique, épuration ethnique
- nettoyage ethniqueethnic cleansing
- épuration ethniqueethnic cleansing
German ethnische Säuberung
- ethnische Säuberungethnic cleansing
Greek εθνοκάθαρση
- εθνοκάθαρση (ethnokátharsi)ethnic cleansing
Hebrew טִהוּר אֶתְנִי \ טיהור אתני
- טִהוּר אֶתְנִי \ טיהור אתני (tihúr étni)ethnic cleansing
Hindi जातीय संहार
- जातीय संहार (jātīya sãhār)ethnic cleansing
Hungarian etnikai tisztogatás
- etnikai tisztogatásethnic cleansing
Icelandic þjóðernishreinsun
- þjóðernishreinsunethnic cleansing
Irish glanadh eitneach
- glanadh eitneachethnic cleansing
Italian pulizia etnica
- pulizia etnicaethnic cleansing
Japanese 民族浄化
- 民族浄化 (minzoku jōka)ethnic cleansing
Korean 민족청소
- 민족청소 (minjokcheongso)ethnic cleansing
Latvian etniskā tīrīšana
- etniskā tīrīšanaethnic cleansing
Lithuanian etninis valymas
- etninis valymasethnic cleansing
Malay pembersihan etnik
- pembersihan etnikethnic cleansing
Norwegian Bokmål etnisk rensning
- etnisk rensningethnic cleansing
Persian پاکسازی قومی
- پاکسازی قومی (pâk-sâzi-ye qowmi)ethnic cleansing
Polish czystka etniczna
- czystka etnicznaethnic cleansing
Portuguese limpeza étnica
- limpeza étnicaethnic cleansing
Romanian epurare etnică, purificare etnică
- epurare etnicăethnic cleansing
- purificare etnicăethnic cleansing
Russian этни́ческая чи́стка
- этни́ческая чи́стка (etníčeskaja čístka)ethnic cleansing
Slovak etnická čistka
- etnická čistkaethnic cleansing
Spanish limpieza étnica, depuración étnica
- limpieza étnicaethnic cleansing
- depuración étnicaethnic cleansing
Swedish etnisk rensning
- etnisk rensningethnic cleansing
Turkish etnik temizlik
- etnik temizlikethnic cleansing
Ukrainian етні́чна чи́стка
- етні́чна чи́стка (etníčna čýstka)ethnic cleansing
Urdu نسلی صفایا, نسلی تطہیر
- نسلی صفایا (naslī-safāyā)ethnic cleansing
- نسلی تطہیر (naslī-tathīr)ethnic cleansing
Vietnamese thanh lọc sắc tộc
- thanh lọc sắc tộcethnic cleansing
Cite this entry
ethnic cleansing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing
“ethnic cleansing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ethnic cleansing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing.
Source: ethnic cleansing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.