witch hunts
Scapegoating frenzied campaigns
Witch hunts is the plural of witch hunt.
Originally the organized pursuit and persecution of people accused of witchcraft, as in colonial Salem or early modern Europe.
Now almost always figurative: a campaign to expose and punish people accused of holding unacceptable views or engaging in subversive activities, often with little regard for evidence or fairness.
The senator called the investigation a witch hunt.
The term implies the accusers are acting on hysteria or political motives rather than legitimate concern.
- Malleus MaleficarumTreatise justifying witch trials
- scapegoatUnfairly blamed person
- McCarthyismPolitically-motivated accusation without evidence
- witchesPractitioners of dark magic
- possessionState of owning
Salem · swimming test · spells · spectral evidence · moral panic · Torquemada · auto-da-fé · devil worship · blacklisting · reign of terror · discrimination · Massachusetts Bay Colony · divination · exorcism · persecution · religious intolerance · Inquisition · trials
- witch huntsSalem trials, accusations, burning at stake, Tituba, inquisition
- witchcraftspell, spellwork, witches, spells, hex
- intimidationthreats, threatening, menacing, intimidate, bullying
- colonial faithPilgrims, Puritans, Calvinism, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony
- Red ScareHUAC, McCarthyism, blacklist, loyalty oaths, Joe McCarthy
- mass delusionsmass hysteria, groupthink, mob mentality, herd mentality, moral panic
witch huntsfair trials
Impartial legal proceedings
due process · justice · rule of law · presumption of innocence · judicial review
witch huntstolerance
Willingness to accept difference
acceptance · amnesty · inclusion · pluralism · reconciliation
witch huntsscientific investigation
Systematic study using evidence
skepticism · critical thinking · fact-finding · measured response
hunt, witch, witchcraft, hunts, bewitch, bewitched, bewitching, bewitchment, witch-hunt