defaultism

English

Etymology

default +‎ -ism

Noun

defaultism (uncountable)

1. An approach or situation in which something occurs by default, without being explicitly introduced.
   • 2012, William Crotty, editor, The Obama Presidency: Promise and Performance, page 132:

     But, in being an African-American politician, [Obama] […] introduces race by default. This racial defaultism is what must be considered as far as a potential limitation in the president's bargaining power, despite whites' liberalization about race and race-related policy issues.

   • 2019, Shalom Lappin, Chris Fox, The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory, page 185:

     Defaultism
     The defaultist view is that some conversational implicatures are default inferences—presumptive meanings—that the hearer makes unless given reason not to by the speaker.

2. The, often misguided, belief that the circumstances surrounding an individual are the default for everyone else.

Related terms

• defaultist