quislingism

Etymology

From quisling + -ism.

quislingism means traitorous collaboration with an enemy. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why “quislingism” is a great word

QUISLINGISM — [Noun] The act of committing treason by not merely cooperating with, but actively serving an enemy occupation as a member of its puppet government. From the surname Quisling (after Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian military officer and fascist politician who collaborated with the Nazi occupation of Norway during World War II) + the suffix -ism (denoting a practice or ideology). First attested in 1940. Unlike "treason" (a broad crime of betrayal) or "collaborationism" (often a grim pact for survival), quislingism is the ideologue’s betrayal, the usurper’s eager embrace of power from an invader’s hand. It is the taste of a state banquet while your country starves, the sound of your own voice broadcasting enemy decrees in the language of home, the meticulous filing of arrest warrants for former comrades—the specific, intimate horror of a nation hollowed out from within.

noun

traitorous collaboration with an enemy