southernism

S1O1U1T1H4E1R1N1I1S1M3

noun

Anything characteristic of the southern part of a region, especially the southern United States.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounsouthernism (countable and uncountable, plural southernisms)

plural southernisms

  1. countableuncountableAnything characteristic of the southern part of a region, especially the southern United States.

    It is one of the national peccadilloes that anyone who lives north of St. Albans has some kind of prejudice against Londoners — perhaps "prejudice" is the wrong word — or rather not against Londoners but against southernism.

    1954, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons official report
  2. countablerhetoricuncountableA word or phrase (a dialectism) from Southern American English.

    I loved his languid, Southern speech and little southernisms, like "you can't put a sequin on a rat's ass."

    1988 April 23, Cindy Patton, “Bob Andrews: A Life Celebration”, in Gay Community News, page 8
    1 more example

    Many are known southernisms in the sense that they are also cited in sources such as Dictionary of American Regional English (henceforth, DARE) or Carver (1987).

    2015, Michael D. Picone, Catherine Evans Davies, New Perspectives on Language Variety in the South: Historical and Contemporary Approaches, University of Alabama Press, →ISBN, page 169

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: southernism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.