Meanings
westernism1
plural westernisms
- Something that is characteristic of the western part of a region.
Westernism2
- historicaluncountableAn 19th-century intellectual ideology which saw Russia's development as dependent upon the adoption of Western European technology and liberal government.
Slavophilism and Westernism were indeed the two sides of the same set of aspirations and sentiments, one facing an image of the past, and the other that of the future.
1992, Liah Greenfield, “The Scythian Rome: Russia”, in Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity, revised edition, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 2652 more examples
In the coming decades, the tumult of revolution and war together with the mistakes, compromises, and ambitions of the country's new leaders would bring Russia's "Asiatic" heritage to the fore and sweep away a still-fragile Westernism.
2000, Robert English, “The Origins and Nature of Old Thinking”, in Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev, Intellectuals, and the End of the Cold War, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 25This description of a typical serious circle exposes the limitation which was so fundamental to Russian Westernism after the failure of the Decembrist revolt—the absence of any relation between thought and practice.
2010, Bruce K. Ward, Dostoyevsky’s Critique of the West: The Quest for the Earthly Paradise, revised edition, Wilfrid Lautier University Press, →ISBN, page 23
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe ideology and culture of the West.
Origin
Westernism · noun
- Russianза́падничество
- EnglishWesternism
From Western + -ism. The Russian ideology is a calque of Russian за́падничество (západničestvo).
More words from Russian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian западничество
- западничество (zapadničestvo)19th century ideology
Czech západnictví
- západnictví19th century ideology
French occidentaliste
- occidentaliste19th century ideology
Italian occidentalismo
- occidentalismo19th century ideology
Polish okcydentaliz, zapadniczestwo
- okcydentaliz19th century ideology
- zapadniczestwo19th century ideology
- zapadnictwo19th century ideology
Russian за́падничество
- за́падничество (západničestvo)19th century ideology
Slovak západníctvo
- západníctvo19th century ideology
Swedish zapadnitjestvo
- zapadnitjestvo19th century ideology
Ukrainian за́хідництво
- за́хідництво (záxidnyctvo)19th century ideology
Cite this entry
westernism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism
“westernism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “westernism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westernism.
Source: westernism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.