-ism

Usage

• anachronism

  An anachronism is something that is out of place because it is set in the wrong time period.

• recidivism

  Recidivism is someone's falling back into an undesirable activity—especially crime—after they had temporarily refrained from committing such acts.

• paroxysm

  A paroxysm is a sudden uncontrolled expression of emotion or a short attack of pain, coughing, or shaking.

• atavism

  Atavism is the reappearance of a genetic feature that has been missing for generations; it can also refer to a manner or style that resurfaces after a period of absence.

• schism

  A schism causes a group or organization to divide into two groups as a result of differences in their aims and beliefs.

• fanaticism

  Fanaticism is the condition of being overly enthusiastic or eager about a cause to the point of being extreme and unreasonable about it.

• alcoholism

  habitual intoxication

• autism

  (psychiatry) an abnormal absorption with the self

• barbarianism

  the condition of acting like a person who is uneducated, rude, or uncivilized

• magnetism

  attraction for iron

• microorganism

  any organism of microscopic size

• mongolism

  a congenital disorder caused by having an extra 21st chromosome

• pauperism

  a state of extreme poverty or destitution

• rheumatism

  any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective tissues

• truism

  an obvious truth