quislingism

quislingism — noun

1. the act of helping an enemy that has taken control of your country, especially b

1.nounC2
Definition

the act of helping an enemy that has taken control of your country, especially by holding an official position and obeying the invader's orders instead of resisting.

Example

The former mayor was tried for quislingism after the war and sent to prison.

collocation: put on trial for quislingism

The history book describes how some citizens chose resistance while others chose quislingism.

Common collocations
  • accused of ~
  • guilty of ~
  • charged with ~
  • acts of ~
Synonyms
  • collaboration

    the general term for working with an enemy; less specific than quislingism and far more common

  • treason

    broader legal term covering any betrayal of one's country, not only during foreign occupation

  • collaborationism

    a close synonym focusing on ideological support for the occupier, equally rare

Antonyms
  • resistance

    active opposition to the occupying force, the opposite of quislingism

  • loyalty

    steadfast devotion to one's country, directly opposed to the betrayal quislingism describes

Usage Note

Derived from the name of Vidkun Quisling, who collaborated with Nazi Germany while serving as Norway's prime minister during World War II. The word is very rarely used outside historical or political discussion.

Word family

  • quisling
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe betrayal, but they differ in scope and context. Collaboration is the broadest term: it can mean simply working together ("scientific collaboration") or, in wartime, consciously assisting an occupying power. Treason is a legal concept — a citizen's betrayal of their own government, often through espionage or aiding an enemy. Quislingism and collaborationism both specify allegiance to an occupying force during an invasion, but quislingism carries the stronger moral condemnation because it evokes Quisling's personal story. Treachery is more general emotional vocabulary for any deceitful act of disloyalty. A citizen who passes secrets to a foreign power commits treason; a local official who enforces the occupying army's orders in an invaded town is guilty of quislingism.

collaboration ↗treason ↗collaborationism ↗treachery ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • accused of quilisingism
  • guilty of quislingism
  • charged with quislingism
  • a case of quislingism

Etymology

NorwegianEnglish

Formed from the surname of Vidkun Quisling (1887–1945), a Norwegian army officer who helped Nazi Germany take over Norway in 1940 and then led a pro-German government. After the war the name Quisling itself became a common noun meaning 'traitor who collaborates with an occupying enemy', and the suffix -ism was added to form quislingism, the abstract noun for this kind of behaviour.