mccarthyism
/məˈkɑrθiˌɪzəm/
noun
- The practice of making unfair accusations against someone, especially of being disloyal or a threat, without proper evidence, often to harm their reputation.
- The teacher warned students that spreading rumors without evidence was like practicing McCarthyism.
- Many people see the company's campaign against the whistleblower as a modern form of McCarthyism.
- The politician was accused of McCarthyism when he called his opponent a traitor without any proof.
- A period in U.S. history (roughly the 1950s) when Senator Joseph McCarthy led a campaign to find and punish people suspected of being communists, often using unfair methods.
- The history class discussed how McCarthyism created a climate of fear in America.
- During McCarthyism, many innocent people lost their jobs because they were accused of being communists.
- Books about McCarthyism describe how the government investigated artists, writers, and teachers.