English

Noun

wasm ‎(plural wasms)

1. (humorous) An ideology, doctrine, theory or law that is no longer current or fashionable.
   • 2008, Peter Viereck, Strict Wildness: Discoveries in Poetry and History (page 137)

     When our propaganda spasms turn your isms into wasms

   • 2009, Donald S. Lopez Jr., Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism

     Dwight Eisenhower, a president not particularly remembered for his wit, once remarked that “all isms are wasms.” He was presumably referring, rather presciently, to the largely forgotten isms that were once perceived as a threat to truth, justice, and the American way: Marxism, socialism, communism.

   • 2009, Richard Taruskin, The Danger of Music: And Other Anti-Utopian Essays (page 86)

     The nice thing about an ism, someone once observed, is how quickly it becomes a wasm.