défaitisme

Coined in 1915 by Russian writer Grigorij Aleksinskij as a calque of Russian пораженчество (poraženčestvo), also coined by him as a derivation of поразить (porazitʹ, “to strike, defeat”). Surface analysis: défaite (“defeat”) +‎ -isme (“-ism”).

• IPA^(key): /de.fɛ.tism/

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défaitisme m (uncountable)

1. defeatism

• défaite
• défaitiste

• “défaitisme” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).