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Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of whataboutism in English

whataboutism
noun [ U ]
  disapproving
us
/wɑːˈt̬əˈbaʊ.tɪ.zəm/ uk
/wɒt.əˈbaʊ.tɪ.zəm/
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the practice of answering a criticism or difficult question by making a similar criticism or asking a different but related question, typically starting with the words "What about?":
What I keep hearing from people is this sort of whataboutism. It's always what about your party, what about your leader?
Whataboutism is used to avoid having to address a difficult topic directly.
Synonym
whataboutery
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(Definition of whataboutism from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
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Translations of whataboutism

in Chinese (Traditional)
「那又怎麼辦」主義（指面對批評或問題的時候用類似的批評或問題來回答，句子裡通常有「…又怎麼辦」的表達）…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
“那又怎么办”主义（指面对批评或问题的时候用类似的批评或问题来回答，句子里通常有“…又怎么办”的表达）…
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what, how, why, etc. in the world idiom
what/whatever someone says goes idiom
what/where/how/why the devil idiom
whataboutery
whataboutism
whatchamacallit
whatever
whatevs
whatness

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