Standard Lemma guide

defeatism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 F IY1 T IH0 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Acceptance of defeat without struggle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Objective assessment is good, but defeatism will reduce our potentials even when the prospects for victory have never been nearer.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

acceptance of the inevitability of defeat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: resignation, surrender

History

Etymology

From defeat + -ism, after French défaitisme, coined in 1915 by Russian writer Grigorij Aleksinskij as a translation of Russian пораже́нчество (poražénčestvo), also coined by him as a derivation of порази́ть (porazítʹ, “to strike, defeat”).

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: паражэнства (paraženstva) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Bulgarian: пораже́нство (poražénstvo) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Catalan: derrotisme — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 失敗主義 /失败主义 (shībàizhǔyì) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Czech: poraženectví — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Danish: defaitisme — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Dutch: defaitisme — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Dutch: berusting — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Finnish: tappiomieliala — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Finnish: defaitismi — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Finnish: antautumismieliala — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • French: défaitisme — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Galician: derrotismo — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • German: Defätismus — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • German: Kapitulantentum — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • German: Untergangsstimmung — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Greek: ηττοπάθεια (ittopátheia) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Hebrew: תבוסתנות (tvustanut) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Hungarian: defetizmus — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Hungarian: kishitűség — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Italian: disfattismo — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Japanese: 敗北主義 (haibokushugi) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Polish: defetyzm — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Polish: niedasizm — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Portuguese: derrotismo — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Russian: дефети́зм (defetízm) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Russian: пораже́нчество (poražénčestvo) — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Serbo-Croatian: дефетизам — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Serbo-Croatian: defetizam — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Spanish: derrotismo — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Swedish: defaitism — acceptance of defeat without struggle
  • Ukrainian: дефети́зм (defetýzm) — acceptance of defeat without struggle