fabianism means the implementation of social reform through a series of gradual and moderate stages rather than sudden revolution. It carries an Arena rating of 1406, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, fabianism ranks #1,101 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #4,229 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,290 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #6,300 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
Why “fabianism” is a great word
A political doctrine advocating the achievement of socialist goals through gradual, reformist, and constitutional means rather than revolutionary upheaval. From Fabian, pertaining to the Fabian Society (founded in 1884 and named for the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, known for his cautious, delaying tactics against Hannibal) + -ism, denoting a system or doctrine. Unlike Marxism, which insists on the catharsis of revolutionary rupture, or laissez-faire, which denies the state a deliberate guiding role, Fabianism is the creed of the administrative tweak, the expert committee, and the incremental budget line. It is the committee meeting that stretches for decades, the pension scheme quietly nationalized, the pamphlet that displaces the barricade—a faith that history’s trajectory can be bent, degree by administrative degree, toward justice, without ever breaking the thermometer.
Etymology
From Fabian + -ism, after the Fabian Society, named in honour of the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus.
noun
- The implementation of social reform through a series of gradual and moderate stages rather than sudden revolution.e.g.“These are not Socialism; they are only reforms. Mere parlor Socialism, such as Fabianism, for example, is also of no vital interest to the masses.” — 1929, Alexander Berkman, chapter 13, in Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism, New York: Vanguard Press, →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- fabianist 73% match — A supporter of Fabianism. vs fabianism →
- stagism 58% match — The theory that society ought to pass gradually in order to arrive at communism: first through capitalism, then through socialism (the worker’s state). vs fabianism →
- millerandism 58% match — The policy of a socialist choosing to join a bourgeois government. vs fabianism →
- manchesterism 56% match — A sociopolitical and economic movement of the 19th century that originated in Manchester, England, and argued that free trade would lead to a more equitable society, making essential products available to all. vs fabianism →
- fourierism 56% match — The cooperative socialistic system of Charles Fourier, a Frenchman, who recommended the reorganization of society into small communities, living in common. vs fabianism →
- foppism 54% match — foppish behaviour vs fabianism →
- labourism 52% match — Support for the labour movement, the development of a collective organization of working people to campaign for better working conditions and treatment. vs fabianism →
- reformism 52% match — Any of several movements that promote reform vs fabianism →