McCarthyism

Definitions

1. The mass pressure, harassment, and/or blacklisting used to pressure people to follow popular political beliefs, especially as opposed to communism.
   derogatory, uncountable, usually
2. The intense opposition to, and fear and suspicion of, Communism, particularly in the United States during the 1950s.

Equivalents

Examples

“This is McMuskism: it’s McCarthyism on steroids, political persecution + Trump + Musk + Silicon Valley surveillance tools. It’s the dawn of a new age of political witch-hunts, where burning at the stake meets data harvesting and online mobs.”

“An important symptom of the difference between McCarthyism and Birchism is the shift in the geographical center of gravity.”

CEFR level