Meaning & use
Sectionalism
Last updated
Excessive loyalty or concern for the interests of one's own region or group over the interests of the larger whole.
See it in a sentence
Sectionalism between the North and South deepened in the decades before the American Civil War.
Political analysts warned that rising sectionalism could fracture the coalition government.
A note on using this word
The term is closely associated with 19th-century American history, describing the growing divide between Northern and Southern states.
Words with a similar meaning
regionalismfactionalism
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Words with an opposite meaning
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