Meaning of vindictive protectiveness | Babel Free

Definitions

A tendency to protect people from perceived injury (such as criticism) by responding with hostility to whoever is held responsible for causing said injury.

derogatory, uncountable

Examples

“Ready for another term? Try vindictive protectiveness. In essence, in the name of emotional wellbeing, students can eliminate anything they do not want to think about, read about, or be challenged about. And penalize those who would expose them to it. How? In the name of "offense".”

““Vindictive protectiveness,” they write, “prepares [students] poorly for professional life, which often demands intellectual engagement with people and ideas one might find uncongenial or wrong. […]”

“And more than the last, this movement seeks to punish anyone who interferes with that aim, even accidentally. You might call this impulse vindictive protectiveness. It is creating a culture in which everyone must think twice before speaking up, […]”

CEFR level