Power Suffixes: -ism

Their discovery: when people are given a small stipend for donating blood rather than simply being praised for their altruism, they tend to donate less blood. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Nestled in the lush volcanic hills running down the spine of Java, the archipelago's most populous island, Solo is a hub of traditional Javanese culture, blending elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and animism. Reuters (Aug 26, 2016)

Twitter, in its imposed brevity, seems to affirm the aphorism’s original meaning: be intelligently succinct! The New Yorker (Jul 15, 2019)

Others preferred to keep their distance, indicative of a country where atheism is on the rise, some churches are being decommissioned, and priests are being imported from other countries. Washington Post (Aug 24, 2018)

Maybe the sin will be washed away, kind of like what’s supposed to happen in baptism. P.S. I Miss You

He told us he is determined to bring up his young son Joao as a feminist, in contrast to the intense chauvinism he himself witnessed as a child. BBC (Dec 2, 2016)

That’s more or less how I remembered “Election” until I watched it again recently, and 20 years of accumulated criticism suggests that I’m not alone. New York Times (Aug 1, 2019)

A system like despotism or tyranny or fascism is really not a political ideology so much as a collective state of poor health that leads eventually to harm for the collective body. Salon (Sep 21, 2018)

Among the novel’s most famous lines: “Each man for himself, in that desert of egoism which is called life.” Washington Post (Jul 29, 2017)

Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer and scientist, built the primary justification for the nation's independence on the thinking of Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon and John Locke—the creators of physics, inductive reasoning and empiricism. Scientific American (Oct 17, 2012)

It’s an ongoing legacy of cowardly language, where we use euphemisms until they lose their meaning. The Guardian (Aug 14, 2019)

Moderation implies prudence, humility to recognize limits, and an aversion to fanaticism and utopian visions. Washington Post (Jul 5, 2019)

Wolitzer’s 12th novel takes up the subject of intergenerational feminism, told through the story of a young woman and her entry into the women’s movement. New York Times (May 24, 2019)

Where they once promoted unbridled hedonism, they’ve now become unlikely crusaders against the excesses of restaurant culture. The New Yorker (May 20, 2019)

While I abhorred the notion of British imperialism, I never rejected the trappings of British style and manners. Long Walk to Freedom

It’s worth asking, for instance, how his patriotism curdled into jingoism. New York Times (Sep 11, 2018)

I earned a master’s degree in journalism and took the first job offered, as a sports writer. Tuesdays with Morrie

For now, the 2D magnets will enable physicists to perform previously impossible experiments and test fundamental theories of magnetism. Nature (Jun 6, 2017)

Styx brought up a fishing pole and studied the winding mechanism. The Season of Styx Malone

The most dense and diverse community is found in the human digestive tract; it aids in the digestion of food, the development and maintenance of the immune system and the regulation of our metabolism. Scientific American (Aug 1, 2019)

The term symbiosis is often used synonymously with mutualism, a relationship in which all partners benefit. Nature (Apr 2, 2019)

A very interesting hot-off-the-press paper further sheds light on the similarities and differences between narcissism and self-esteem. Scientific American (Oct 29, 2017)

We think of Renoir as an impressionist and associate impressionism with naturalism: natural light, natural landscapes. Washington Post (Jun 24, 2019)

After his father was elected president in 2013, Maduro Jr. was named to lead a new corps of inspectors of the presidency, fueling allegations of nepotism. Washington Post (Jun 28, 2019)

It was brazen opportunism, a naked power grab: privately, I’m told, her team wanted the precious “bauble” of going down in history as the gravediggers of the British Labour party. The Guardian (Jun 9, 2017)

In fact, they were so heartened by their success that not even the morning’s hidden-message broadcasts dimmed their optimism. The Mysterious Benedict Society

Technically, international guidelines on interplanetary contamination don’t prohibit sending biological matter and organisms to the lunar surface, since most living creatures can’t survive there. The Verge (Aug 16, 2019)

Atticus Finch is his court-appointed lawyer, and after he gets the case, his daughter, Scout, the narrator, must contend with the disdain and ostracism of their neighbors. Slate (Oct 4, 2018)

In conservative Twin Falls, many who follow paganism, a religion whose modern movement includes a variety of practices including nature worship, aren’t open about their beliefs. Washington Times (Feb 25, 2017)

The law defines research misconduct as fabrication, falsification or plagiarism. Nature (Jul 8, 2019)

He dismissed Egypt’s polytheism and introduced worship that focused solely on the Aten, the disk of the sun – something considered heresy at the time. The Guardian (Aug 15, 2015)

That was an age old philosophical argument about pragmatism versus daring to dream. The Guardian (Aug 1, 2019)

While the original artist says the bust was supposed to be a representation, Herbert says, “enough of the symbolism, we want realism.” Seattle Times (Oct 23, 2018)

Council members agree there should be a focus on re-entry programs for inmates going back into society, decreasing recidivism rates and better managing those who are involved in the legal system. Washington Times (Jul 24, 2019)

Though there is a degree of rural romanticism, it often focuses on a fictional, idealized view of rural America. Washington Post (Jun 14, 2019)

“And what exactly did I say?” asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A man so conventional, so scrupulously correct as the Director—and to commit so gross a solecism! Brave New World

I hope that my children will show stoicism and perseverance through adversity, as well as an ability to think for themselves and challenge conventional wisdom when necessary. Wall Street Journal (Feb 14, 2018)

She knows her way around a syllogism, but she also knows that persuasion is not reducible to reason—that the best arguments, on their own, do not always win. The New Yorker (Nov 20, 2018)

As an alternative to theism, these groups proffer humanism — a belief in the power of humanity and the human spirit, without supernatural intervention. Washington Post (Mar 30, 2017)