Standard Lemma guide

tokenism

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

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  • CMU ARPABET: T OW1 K AH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures; especially to hire a minimal number of ethnically diverse or disadvantaged people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English token Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English tokenism From token + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: tokénisme — policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures
  • Portuguese: tokenismo — policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures
  • Scottish Gaelic: tòcanas — policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures
  • Serbo-Croatian: tokenizam — policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures
  • Spanish: tokenismo — policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures