Standard Lemma guide

rankism

noun · 1 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.

  • /ˈɹæŋkɪz(ə)m/ without æ-raising
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈɹeɪ̯ŋkɪz(ə)m/ æ-raising
  • /ˈɹɛ̃ŋkɪz(ə)m/ æ-raising
  • rhymes with -ɪzəm

1

noun

Meaning 1

Abuse, discrimination, or exploitation based on rank.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From rank + -ism, probably by analogy with words like racism and sexism. It was coined by American physicist, author and social reformer Robert Works Fuller (1936–2025).

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Russian: ранки́зм (rankízm) — discrimination based on rank