# defeatism

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪˈfiːtɪzəm/ · frequency rank #80,371

## Definitions
1. Acceptance of defeat without struggle.

## Etymology
From defeat + -ism, after French défaitisme, coined in 1915 by Russian writer Grigorij Aleksinskij as a translation of Russian пораже́нчество (poražénčestvo), also coined by him as a derivation of порази́ть (porazítʹ, “to strike, defeat”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/defeatism