neo-McCarthyism

noun

political policies or ideology seen as a resurgence or continuation of McCarthyism after its heyday in the 1950s

OriginEnglish McCarthyism ← Irish Mac Carthaigh ← Ancient Greek νεο- (neo-) →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounneo-McCarthyism (uncountable)
  1. USuncountablegovernmentpolitical policies or ideology seen as a resurgence or continuation of McCarthyism after its heyday in the 1950s

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*nu
  2. Proto-Indo-European*néwos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*néwos
  4. Ancient Greekνέος (néos)
  5. Ancient Greekνεο- (neo-)
  6. Englishneo-
  7. IrishMac Carthaigh
  8. EnglishMcCarthy
  9. EnglishMcCarthyism
  10. Englishneo-McCarthyism

From neo- + McCarthyism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

neo-McCarthyism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neo-McCarthyism

MLA

“neo-McCarthyism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neo-McCarthyism. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neo-McCarthyism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neo-McCarthyism.

Source: neo-McCarthyism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.