whataboutism
/ˌwə.təˈbaʊ.tɪ.zəm/
whataboutism means A logical fallacy where criticisms are deflected by raising unrelated criticisms of the opposite side. It carries an Arena rating of 1258, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, whataboutism ranks #450 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #845 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,637 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,909 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
whataboutism is pronounced /ˌwə.təˈbaʊ.tɪ.zəm/.
Why “whataboutism” is a great word
WHATABOUTISM — [Noun] A logical fallacy or rhetorical tactic in which an accusation or criticism is deflected by raising a different, often unrelated, criticism against the opposing side. From the phrase "what about" + the suffix -ism (denoting a distinctive practice or system). First attested c. 1978 in The Guardian. Unlike *tu quoque*, which seeks to convict an opponent of hypocrisy to invalidate their argument, or the general "red herring," any irrelevant diversion, whataboutism is the precise, corrosive act of deflection by counter-accusation. It is the political theatre of pointing a finger across the aisle when your own hands are dirty, the intellectual equivalent of pointing at a smudge on your critic’s glasses while the house burns behind you, the child’s weary sigh of “but he did it too” when caught—a strategy that ensures no moral ledger is ever balanced, replacing the warmth of accountability with the chill of infinite, paralyzing deflection.
Etymology
From what about + -ism. First use appears c. 1978 in The Guardian.
noun
- A logical fallacy where criticisms are deflected by raising unrelated criticisms of the opposite side.
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.
- whataboutery 74% match — Protesting at hypocrisy; responding to criticism by accusing one's opponent of similar or worse faults. vs whataboutism →
- againstism 49% match — The perspective or activity of being against something, or of having a contrary demeanor in general; a pattern of repeated opposition or criticism. vs whataboutism →
- blameshifting 48% match — Attempting to deflect guilt by moving attention to someone else. vs whataboutism →
- bothsiderism 48% match — Bothsidesism. vs whataboutism →
- bothsidesism 48% match — A tendency to treat all policy debates as if the opposing sides present equally strong arguments, or are equally valid or equally dangerous. vs whataboutism →
- hypobole 47% match — A rhetorical figure in which several things are mentioned that seem to make claims against the argument, or in favor of the opposing side, but are then refuted one by one. vs whataboutism →
- bulverism 46% match — A rhetorical fallacy in which a speaker assumes that their opponent's argument is wrong, and instead of disproving it, condescendingly explains why their opponent would have come to that conclusion. vs whataboutism →
- counteraccusation 46% match — An accusation made in reply to another accusation. vs whataboutism →