Ismus
German, noun/-ˈɪs.mʊs/
Ismus is spelled I-S-M-U-S (5 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written German, the 88,766th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ismus is a German masculine noun meaning “an ism (an ideology, typically with the notion of excessive theorising and close-mindedness)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “bloße Theorie, theoretisches Gedankengebäude”.
What does Ismus mean in English?
noun
- 1
derogatorymasculinean ism (an ideology, typically with the notion of excessive theorising and close-mindedness)
Wir brauchen praktische und gemeinschaftliche Lösungen – Ismen bringen uns nicht weiter.
suffix
- 1
masculine-ism
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
suffix: 1. kennzeichnet abstrakte ideologische, kulturelle, geisteswissenschaftliche oder ähnliche Richtungen 2. bezeichnet etwas, das die Eigenschaft des im Basiswort inhaltlich Ausgedrückten hat 3. bezeichnet einige Krankheiten und körperliche Veränderungen
noun: 1. bloße Theorie, theoretisches Gedankengebäude
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Ismus
- Ismen plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Ismus?
- /-ˈɪs.mʊs/
- /ˈɪsmʊs/
- [ˈɪsmʊs]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Ismus
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Ismus in German?
Ismus appears about once in every 3 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).