autogenocide means the extermination of a country's citizens by its own people or government. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why “autogenocide” is a great word
AUTOGENOCIDE — [Noun] The systematic extermination of a country's or group's own population by its own government or members. From the Greek-derived prefix auto- ("self") + genocide, from the Greek genos ("race, kind") and the Latin -cidium ("killing"). First attested in 1958, coined by historian Arnold Toynbee. Unlike genocide (which can be inflicted by an external foe) or politicide (which targets for political belief), autogenocide is the state turning its machinery of death inward upon its own biological and social body. It is the village emptied by the soldiers who grew up in its shadow, the bureaucratic ledger listing citizens for erasure by their own kin, and the forced confession extracted by one's own hand—the body politic methodically dismembering itself until only a tomb of silence remains.
noun
- The extermination of a country's citizens by its own people or government.
- Genocide of a particular group by members of that group.“If Anita Bryantt really wants to devastate gay liberation, she should pry her fingers from her Bible long enough to thumb through the printed gay media. Scathing onslaughts may be fun, but they aren't very productive. Will we never cease practicing intellectual autogenocide?”