truthism

English

Etymology

truth +‎ -ism

Noun

truthism (countable and uncountable, plural truthisms)

1. (uncountable) A belief in the importance of truth and objective facts.
   • 1851, Joseph Irons, Zion has nothing to fear from Popery, page 4:

     What have the people of God to fear? Truthism will always stand; that which is the work of God the Eternal Spirit, experimentally wrought in the soul in regeneration, in the day of God's power, for the Lord is ever mindful of the beauty of Israel.

   • 2021 May 18, Vanessa Friedman, “Liz Cheney: The Model of a Modern Never-Trumper”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     She [Liz Cheney] stands, she says, for truthism in the Republican Party, not Trumpism.

2. (uncountable, derogatory) Trutherism; the beliefs of conspiracy theorists.
   • 2011 March 1, Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Mainsteaming of 9/11 Truthism”, in The Atlantic‎^[2]:

     (title)

   • 2020 April 9, Abimbola Adelakun, “Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has made history”, in The Punch‎^[3]:

     I concede that not every technology has been good for mankind, but one would expect someone of Pastor Chris' calibre to at least do his homework before spewing 5G truthism and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

   • 2021 January 14, Jon Skolnik, “QAnon congresswoman vows to impeach Joe Biden one day after his inauguration”, in Salon‎^[4]:

     In the past, Rep. Greene has supported a litany of conspiracy theories to make up for her gaps in knowledge. Such conspiracies include –– but are not limited to –– an "Islamic invasion" of government offices; Jewish billionaire George Soros collaborating with the Nazis; "Pizzagate"; Hillary Clinton's link to pedophelia and child sacrifice; the "Clinton Kill List"; 9/11 Truthism; and mass shootings as "false flag" operations.

   • 2021 October 20, Kevin Johnson, “Global conspiracy comedy Inside Job sabotages its own ambitions”, in The A.V. Club‎^[5]:

     Along with executive producer Alex Hirsch, you can tell Inside Job wants to sink its teeth into the sheer insanity and chaos of wholly invented tales, whether it's folk legends about Sasquatch or global conspiracies like 9/11 "truthism" and fake moon landings.

   • 2022 April 21, Trevor Quirk, “Nobel Literature Laureate Alexievich Backs 5G Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory”, in Guernica Magazine‎^[6]:

     By continuing to reveal the world's untamable complexity, the internet unmuffles an unbearable noise from which the conspiracy theory offers a refuge: a belief system that is more accessible, durable, and comfortable than any traditional ideology. But even these havens do not last. QAnon, flat Earth, and 9/11 truthism are already divided by heretics and factionalism.

3. (countable, nonstandard) A truism; something commonly accepted to be true.
   • 2015 June 12, May Boeve, Hector Figueroa, “TPP is a disaster for workers and our climate”, in The Hill‎^[7]:

     Let's be honest: there have been times when labor unions and environmentalists have disagreed. This is no secret, and it's become one of those larger-than-itself DC truthisms.

   • 2016 June 3, Seija Rankin, “It's National Doughnut Day, so Let's Relive the Best Doughnut Moments in Pop Culture”, in E! Online‎^[8]:

     Mindy Lahiri is never one to mince words, and most of the things that come out of her mouth are rife for a gospel. But her sheer overwhelming emotion at her doughnut craving is one of the truthiest truthisms she's ever truthed. Preach, girl.

   • 2020 May 11, Phillip Tinner, “The Ascent Shows Off Next-Gen Gameplay After Lackluster Xbox Showcase”, in Screen Rant‎^[9]:

     For those worried the footage shown was pre-rendered "gameplay" (a long-abused industry truthism far worse than Microsoft's recent fib), rest easy. Though Neon Giant stresses that the trailer may not be representative of the final product, that's because a game in alpha gameplay inherently pushes the boundaries of what developers want to include in a finished release.

Derived terms

• post-truthism