Pick the very formal, very critical word "hegemony" when you want to describe the way some group dominates all the others, especially in a way that seems arrogant, exclusive, close-minded, oppressive, or even brutal.

We usually talk about some group's hegemony, or the hegemony of some group or thing, as in "American hegemony," "white European hegemony in the United States," "the hegemony of celebrity culture," "the hegemony of the English language."

And we talk about some group maintaining, strengthening, or exerting its hegemony, sometimes over other groups, or about some group resisting, challenging, or overthrowing some other group's hegemony. For example: "Hozier's song 'Nina Cried Power' celebrates people who confront all kinds of hegemony."

Although "hegemony" typically describes a vast and serious kind of cultural dominance, it doesn't have to. It can be pretty funny if you use it to describe a dominance that's small or petty. Here's the New Yorker: "The new sandwich... [has been] embraced as a serious challenge to the chicken-on-a-bun hegemony of Chick-fil-A."

"[Johnny Carson] reigned supreme and late-night talk shows were about, well, talk. If there was a beginning to the end of this era... it was probably Letterman's arrival at CBS in 1993. This, of course, broke the hegemony over late night that Carson had jealously guarded for three decades at NBC."
   — Aaron Barnhart, Seattle Times, 29 January 2011

"Painting dominated gallery, salon and museum for centuries, but its hegemony is now challenged not just by video and performance, but also by drawing."
  — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 15 June 2017

has this page helped you understand "hegemony"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "hegemony" without saying "dominion" or "domination."

try it out:

Back in 2001, Eric Schlosser wrote that the American fast food industry currently had a "hamburger hegemony."

First, could you explain what that means? And do you think his choice of the word "hegemony" is mostly for laughs, or is there also a kind of oppression in the fast food industry, with hamburger restaurants in power? 

One more thing! Would you say that Schlosser's comment is still accurate today? Why or why not?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Fill In For the Poet." 

I'll give you a few lines from a poem, with a blank where a word that we've studied before appears, along with the word's definition. See if you can come up with it. If you can't, that's fine: fill in the blank to your satisfaction.

To check out some examples, head here.

Try this today:

From Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem "Dog:"

But he has his own free world to live in
His own fleas to eat
He will not be _____ed
Congressman Doyle is just another
fire hydrant
to him
The dog trots freely in the street

Definition: "stopped from communicating freely."

To see the word the poet chose, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of HEGEMONIC is

A. LAUGHABLE.
B. EQUITABLE.
C. PROFITABLE.

2. Gavin Edwards noted how Trina Robbins and her co-creators in 1970 authored "the first comic book made exclusively by women... after four decades of _____ hegemony."

A. male
B. female
C. gender-based

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A From the game: muzzled.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.