Meanings
- in compoundsuncountablegovernmentThe act of appealing to a specified group of voters.
“I am concerned about what I would regard as big tentism – this attempt to get everybody into the same fold. I think it is an attempt to create – in the nicest possible way – a one-party state.”
2007 September 25, Stephen Tall, “Vince hits out at Gordon’s ‘Big Tentism’”, in Liberal Democrat Voice1 more example
Trump campaigning could sometimes be more effective on big tentism, note his shifts on abortion rhetoric and rhetorical moves away from Paul Ryan language on cutting the social safety net. […] Because the genuine risk of catastrophe from the MAGA side means that the other two aspects, especially small tentism can be disastrous for the center through left coalition due to a shift to competitive authoritarianism.
2025 September 9, Greg Sanders, Substack
Origin
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Cite this entry
tentism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tentism
“tentism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tentism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tentism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tentism.
Source: tentism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.