KNOW-NOTHINGISM


Meaning of KNOW-NOTHINGISM in English

-ŋˌizəm noun

( -s )

1. usually capitalized K&N : the principles and policies of the 19th century Know-Nothings

2. : the fact or condition of knowing nothing or of desiring to know nothing or the conviction that nothing can be known with certitude especially in religion or morality

an ethical know-nothingism in which there is no longer any certainty … as to what is and what is not evil — F.B.Millett

3. sometimes capitalized K&N : a political attitude or philosophy of the mid-twentieth century characterized chiefly by anti-intellectualism and exaggerated patriotism and by fear of foreign and subversive influences

fighting the battle inside the government against the forces of hysteria and know-nothingism — Reed Harris

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.