Meaning
The practice or tendency of a large group of people withdrawing support from a public figure, company or work - 'cancelling' them - as punishment for behaviour or statements deemed objectionable. Usually discussed critically or in quotation marks, since people disagree about whether such reactions are accountability or mob justice. Informal-to-journalistic register, politically charged and frequently contested; often used in scare quotes. Regional use: General English; originated in African-American Vernacular English and spread via social media.
Origin
The verb sense of 'cancel' has a documented trail: the 1981 Chic song 'Your Love Is Cancelled', written by Nile Rodgers, used a cancelled TV show as a metaphor for ending a relationship, and screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper carried the usage into the 1991 film New Jack City, rooting it in African-American Vernacular English. By 2015 'cancelling' was widespread on Black Twitter in a partly jokey sense, as documented by the New York Times. The compound noun 'cancel culture' came into circulation around 2018, mostly with negative connotations, and debate intensified with the July 2020 Harper's open letter signed by 153 public figures. Merriam-Webster added an entry for cancel culture in January 2021; no single coiner of the compound has been identified.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- call-out culture
- canceling
- cancellation culture
- cancelled culture
- cancelling
Usage Examples
- The panel debated whether cancel culture improves accountability or just punishes mistakes forever.
- After the old interviews resurfaced, fans threatened to cancel the comedian entirely.
- She argues that what critics call cancel culture is often just consumers choosing differently.