ethnic cleansing

ethnic cleansing Word Origin See more synonyms for ethnic cleansing on Thesaurus.com noun

1. the elimination of an unwanted ethnic group or groups from a society, as by genocide or forced emigration.

Origin of ethnic cleansing First recorded in 1985–90 Related Words for ethnic cleansing genocide, holocaust, pogrom British Dictionary definitions for ethnic cleansing ethnic cleansing noun

1. euphemistic the violent removal by one ethnic group of other ethnic groups from the population of a particular area: used esp of the activities of Serbs against Croats and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia

ethnic cleansing in Culture ethnic cleansing

A euphemism to describe the forceful removal or genocide of minority ethnic groups (see ethnicity) during the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was used mainly to describe the Serbs’ attacks on Muslims in Bosnia and Albanians in Kosovo. (See Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo War.)