How to Use provincialism in a Sentence

provincialism

noun
  • The way things have been handled the past few weeks has smacked of provincialism.
    — Eric Bolin, ajc, 26 Nov. 2017
  • This made the matter of provincialism about the future all the more acute.
    — Jim Holt, The New York Review of Books, 25 Feb. 2021
  • But when the sport itself leaves the country, the provincialism sets in.
    — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 23 Aug. 2017
  • This was the mid-nineteen-sixties, when Canada was coming out of that provincialism and into its own.
    — Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2025
  • This the age of pandemics and the rise of autocrats and nationalism and provincialism.
    — Steven Levy, Wired, 18 Nov. 2020
  • Instead, provincialism and distrust have short-circuited the work.
    — oregonlive, 7 Jan. 2022
  • Yet the perception that the great leaders of old were unsullied by the provincialism of today does not often stand up to scrutiny.
    — Tom McTague, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2020
  • In a globalized world, this kind of provincialism and incrementalism has merit.
    — Tom McTague, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2021
  • For others, admitting to and shedding their Manhattan provincialism takes more time.
    — Kenneth R. Rosen, New York Times, 5 May 2017
  • And finally, the struggle against the provincialism and ignorance of Czech society.
    — Jared Marcel Pollen, The New Republic, 12 July 2023
  • Boston’s provincialism is regressive, offensive, unwelcoming, and harms us as a city.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 20 Mar. 2021
  • No matter how many movers and shakers roll in and out of town, or how many sophisticated boutiques grace its streets, Milan simply cannot escape its provincialism.
    — Elle Decor Staff, ELLE Decor, 20 Sep. 2010
  • The world of the movie is all kitsch and gimmick, a non-stop gag of yah-you-betcha Midwest provincialism interrupted by violent flares of criminal disorder.
    — Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 5 July 2019
  • Robert’s funeral, a smug Czech editor accuses Less of provincialism.
    — Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Saint Etienne’s history isn’t everyone’s, and the places its members fetishize might seem strange to those with little interest in English provincialism.
    — The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
  • Her workaholism, provincialism, and affinity for Starbucks strike them as trashy—or, in the one piece of foreign vocab the show drills into its English-speaking viewers, ringarde!
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2021
  • Unpredictably, the director splays himself across its seven and a half hours, offering up his messiness and his provincialism in equal proportion to his brilliance and his sensitivity.
    — The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021
  • Ellison detested the hypocrisy, provincialism and crass materialism of Tuskegee.
    — Saidiya Hartman, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2019
  • In her visits to all three American metropolises, she was struck by their peculiar combination of global power and extreme provincialism.
    — Rachel Donadio, Travel + Leisure, 8 Dec. 2020
  • These developments are good news for the overall stability of the western Balkans, a region still mired in sectarianism and provincialism.
    — Jasmin Mujanovic, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Alas, today’s border walls, whether real or only metaphorical as in a post-Brexit England, are dismal signs of provincialism, pettiness and decline.
    — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 11 Dec. 2019
  • Her response to provincialism and ethnic nationalism in Israel was to formulate an embodied synthesis of cultures.
    — New York Times, 16 Apr. 2022
  • Endless Flight is the first biography in English of Joseph Roth, and that in itself is a sad reflection of native provincialism and ignorance.
    — David Harsanyi, National Review, 2 Feb. 2023
  • But at the meeting, multiple speakers noted changes over the years in South Boston, long known for its provincialism, including growing diversity of its residents.
    — Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Grassroots provincialism and downscaling may not be the only alternative to climate-destroying mobility.
    — Daniel Birnbaum, Artforum, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Wirecard exploited this mix of interconnectedness and provincialism.
    — Adrian Daub, The New Republic, 21 Apr. 2021
  • This provincialism was identified as such and condemned by Merlin Klee, who had been a Freedom Rider as well as a Catholic before joining the community.
    — Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Such provincialism results in little or no coordination between ministries and undermines the capacity for broad strategic planning and implementation -- both of which are necessary to solve the country’s infrastructure and services deficits.
    — Raad Alkadiri, Foreign Affairs, 3 Mar. 2011
  • German culture is rife with concepts and artifacts that allow people to articulate their profound distrust of this provincialism, and turn closeness, connectedness, and intuitive understanding into something monstrous and uncanny.
    — Adrian Daub, Longreads, 13 Dec. 2019
  • In a country obsessed with TV—where provincialism too often metastasizes into nationalism, and especially at a time when international travel is virtually impossible—the best thing our screens can do is open us up to the world beyond them.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 22 Jan. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'provincialism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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