Victimism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The tendency to adopt a victim identity in various contexts
2. The behavior of consistently identifying oneself as a victim in different situations
3. A pattern of perceiving oneself primarily through the lens of having been wronged or harmed

Etymology: Victimism is one of those coinages where the building blocks are plain: "victim" plus the suffix "-ism," which turns a noun into a name for a doctrine, system, or habitual attitude. The suffix is the same one found in words like "heroism" or "capitalism," and it is what lets "victim" stand for a whole outlook rather than a single person who has been harmed. The word's meaning follows that pattern closely. Where "victim" names someone who suffers harm, "victimism" names a standing habit of seeing oneself chiefly through that lens, so that being wronged becomes the central fact of one's identity. The shift from a single event to a settled way of perceiving things is what the suffix adds.

Synonyms: victim mentality