The Meaning of Bigotry: What It Is and How To Use It

Have you ever wondered about the meaning of bigotry? This article will teach you the definition of bigotry and how to use it in a sentence.

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Have you ever been called a bigot or heard someone else being accused of bigotry? This article will help you learn what the word bigotry means, the origin of the word bigotry, how to use bigotry in a sentence, translations, synonyms, and antonyms. 

What Does the Word Bigotry Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, bigotry is a noun that means prejudice, the holding of strong and often controversial beliefs, or discrimination. There are many forms of bigotry, including discrimination based on gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, and more.

Bigotry is behavior characteristic of a bigot, and a bigot is someone who practices bigotry. The adjective form of the word bigotry is bigoted. 

Bigot and bigotry are both nouns, but bigot refers to a person, while bigotry refers to a concept. The pronunciation of bigotry is ˈbɪɡətrɪ

What Is the Origin of Bigotry?

According to AH Dictionary, the origins of the word bigotry may be Old French. This word was originally used as an insult referring to a person from Normandy created by the Viking conqueror Rollo.

It is said that Rollo refused to kiss the feet of the king of France, Charles III, and said “ne se bi got” which means, “Never, by God.” Therefore, the word bigot became an insult to Normans. The word bigot was once used as the French bigotrie.

How Can Bigotry Be Used in a Sentence?

The word bigotry can be used in many sentences to refer to prejudice and discrimination. Below are a few examples of how you can use the word bigotry in a sentence. Since accusing someone of bigotry is harsh, make sure that you think carefully before using this word.

Example #1: Bigotry at a University

The professor at Princeton University was accused of religious bigotry against his students. The religious group believed they were being treated differently for being members of a particular group.

Example #2: Bigotry in the World

Despite all of the progress that has been made, there is still extreme bigotry in the United States and England. A bigoted person or religious hypocrite may show up when you least expect it.

Example #3: Bigotry at a Company

Even though the company prided itself on being diverse and inclusive, there was still a lot of bigotry in upper management. They rarely promoted women or people of color, which made it difficult for them to have a voice at the company.

Example #4: Bigotry in Politics

The political party was accused of bigotry, and many people from the opposing side felt that their values were not inclusive of all races, genders, ethnicities, and sexualities.

What Are Translations of Bigotry?

Unfortunately, bigotry does not exist only in English-speaking countries. In order to discuss the concept of bigotry with people in other countries, you can use this list of translations of bigotry from Nice Translator. If you see bigotry occurring in another country, you can call it out with one of the below translations. 

  • Thai: ความดื้อรั้น
  • Japanese: 偏見
  • Polish: bigoteria
  • Slovenian: agotiry
  • German: Fanatismus
  • Spanish: fanatismo
  • Catalan: bígraf
  • Portuguese (Portugal): intolerância
  • Hindi: कट्टरता
  • Hebrew: קַנָאוּת
  • Malay: ketaksuban
  • Gujarati: બિગટ્રી
  • Indonesian: kefanatikan
  • Czech: bigotnost
  • Korean: 편협한 신앙
  • Dutch: onverdraagzaamheid
  • Welsh: bigotry
  • Estonian: bigotri
  • French: bigoterie
  • Bulgarian: Биготри
  • Romanian: bigotism
  • Ukrainian: фанатизм
  • Italian: bigottismo
  • Russian: фанатизм
  • Turkish: bağnazlık
  • Serbian: биготри
  • Kannada: ಪೈಪೋಟ್ರಿ
  • Swedish: bigotteri
  • Portuguese (Brazil): intolerância
  • Latvian: augstprātība
  • Croatian: netrpeljivost
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 貝爾特里
  • Slovak: biedny
  • Urdu: بگوٹی
  • Malayalam: വർഗീയത
  • Greek: ΜΙΣΑΛΛΟΔΟΞΙΑ
  • Amharic: ትልልቅ
  • Chinese (PRC): 贝尔特里
  • Marathi: कट्टरता
  • Basque: Bigotry
  • Finnish: bigotry
  • Hungarian: vakbuzgóság
  • Danish: fordomme
  • Telugu: bogotry

What Are Synonyms of the Word Bigotry?

Power Thesaurus states that numerous words can be used in place of the word bigotry. Bigotry has a negative yet general connotation. Some of these words have a positive connotation while still reflecting a bias. Others have a negative connotation but are more specific about the type of judgment or bias. 

Overall, all of these synonyms will be used in different contexts to reflect facets of bigotry. 

  • ageism
  • anti-semitism
  • apartheid
  • arbitrariness
  • aversion
  • bias
  • biases
  • casteism
  • chauvinism
  • discrimination
  • dogmatism
  • double standard
  • enthusiasm
  • extremism
  • fanaticism
  • fascism
  • favoritism
  • fundamentalism
  • hypocrisy
  • illiberality
  • inclination
  • incorrigibility
  • inequality
  • inequity
  • infatuation
  • injustice
  • insularism
  • insularity
  • intolerance
  • intolerances
  • jaundiced eye
  • jingoism
  • leaning
  • mind trip
  • mindset
  • misogyny
  • monomania
  • narrow-mindedness
  • narrowness
  • obsessiveness
  • obstinacy
  • one-sidedness
  • opinionatedness
  • parochialism
  • partiality
  • partisanship
  • pharisaicalness
  • preconception
  • predilection
  • preferential treatment
  • prejudice
  • prejudices
  • prepossession
  • provincialism
  • racial discrimination
  • racial prejudice
  • racialism
  • racism
  • radicalism
  • sanctimony
  • sectarianism
  • sexism
  • single-mindedness
  • small-mindedness
  • tartuffery
  • tendency
  • unfairness
  • xenophobia
  • zealotry

What Are Antonyms of the Word Bigotry?

There are also many words that reflect the opposite of bigotry, according to Power Thesaurus. The below antonyms of bigotry can be used when someone is open-minded or accepting.

  • acceptance
  • allowance
  • balance
  • benevolence
  • breadth of mind
  • breadth of vision
  • broad-mindedness
  • candor
  • charitableness
  • charity
  • civility
  • consideration
  • detachment
  • detachments
  • disinterest
  • disinterestedness
  • dispassion
  • egalitarianism
  • enlightenment
  • equitableness
  • equity
  • even-handedness
  • fair-mindedness
  • fairness
  • forbearance
  • forthrightness
  • free thought
  • honesty
  • impartiality
  • impressionability
  • independence
  • indulgence
  • interest
  • justice
  • justness
  • lack of bias
  • lack of prejudice
  • largeness
  • latitude
  • latitude of thought
  • lenity
  • liberalism
  • liberality
  • liberalness
  • magnanimity
  • neutrality
  • nonpartisanship
  • objectiveness
  • objectivity
  • open-mindedness
  • open-minded
  • openness
  • patience
  • perceptiveness
  • perceptivity
  • permissiveness
  • progressiveness
  • rationality
  • reasonableness
  • receptibility
  • receptiveness
  • receptivity
  • recipiency
  • reformism
  • responsiveness
  • sensibility
  • susceptibility
  • susceptibleness
  • susceptivity
  • tolerance
  • tolerances
  • toleration
  • understanding
  • variation
  • width of views

Conclusion

The word bigotry refers to a narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs of certain characteristics that form the basis of a person. As a result of their prejudices, bigots may allow their own belief system to make them hate another person. 

Sources:

  1. 467 Words and Phrases for Bigotry | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Open-mindedness synonyms – 442 Words and Phrases for Open-mindedness | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Bigotry definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  4. Bigot | American Heritage Dictionary 
  5. Bigot | Nice Translator