pastism

Etymology

From past + -ism.

pastism means the belief that only the past is important, or that it is the best model to be emulated. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why “pastism” is a great word

PASTISM — [Noun] A doctrine or belief system that holds the past to be of paramount importance and the sole, superior model for all present and future conduct. Formed within English from the noun 'past' and the suffix '-ism' (denoting a distinctive doctrine or system). First attested in 1921. Unlike "presentism" (which anachronistically filters history through a modern lens) or "traditionalism" (which selectively preserves specific long-held customs), pastism is a wholesale, ideological veneration of a bygone era as an integrated, perfected whole. It is the golden patina on a faded photograph, the musty scent of a sealed archive, and the exacting warmth of a parlor kept at a temperature deemed correct in a departed era—a melancholic conviction that the future is merely a faded copy of a lost original.

noun

The belief that only the past is important, or that it is the best model to be emulated.