Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism.
- n. Prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind: "the chauvinism . . . of making extraterrestrial life in our own image” ( Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.)
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The sentiments of a chauvin; enthusiastic, unreflecting devotion to any cause; especially, absurdly exaggerated patriotism or military enthusiasm.
Wiktionary
- n. pejorative Excessive patriotism, eagerness for national superiority; jingoism.
- n. pejorative Unwarranted bias, favoritism, or devotion to one's own particular group, cause, or idea.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Blind and absurd devotion to a fallen leader or an obsolete cause; hence, absurdly vainglorious or exaggerated patriotism.
- n. exaggerated and unreasoning partisanship to any group or cause; -- .
WordNet 3.0
- n. fanatical patriotism
- n. activity indicative of belief in the superiority of men over women
Etymologies
- Borrowing from French chauvinisme (originally ‘idealistic devotion to Napoleon’), named from Nicolas Chauvin de Rochefort, a soldier of the First Republic known for his excessive patriotism, especially famous after featuring as a character in Cogniard's play La Cocarde Tricolore. (Wiktionary)
- French chauvinisme, after Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary French soldier famous for his devotion to Napoleon. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Israeli chauvinism is for some reason seen by political elites as the only politically viable stance, but there is no reason to suppose that real people feel the same way.”
“The "Le Pen" of American public life (cf. the French you love to hate) apparently believes that demagogic national chauvinism is a ticket to political success.”
“In polarised situations, it is almost natural for politicians to try and compete with each other in chauvinism rather than in their willingness to accommodate - Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine are particularly obvious examples, as indeed is Northern Ireland.”
“The chauvinism is very much of its era, and yet the show is self-aware of its sexism and makes fun of itself.”
“I believe most readers would be able to understand that this is the use of the word chauvinism that I had in mind in my comment, even though you believe this use to be an “original albeit nonsensical” one.”
“Have you noticed that male chauvinism is making a comeback?”
“ The word chauvinism is often used as shorthand for male chauvinism, a term describing the attitudes of men who believe that women are inferior and should not be given equal status with men.”
“To carry patriotism to the edge of chauvinism is to abandon the discipline of thought, which is the only safeguard against self-seeking patriotism.”
“While the federal political structure has worked remarkably well in the context of India, where coexistence of several ethnic / linguistic states acts as buffer to any chauvinism from the Hindi heartland, it is unlikely to work in Sri Lanka where there are only two main ethnic groups.”
“Intelligentsiya’s bias toward ethnic chauvinism is quite glaring and foreigners should be advised that you are helping give credibility to an extremely racist website.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘chauvinism’.
-
GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
-ism's -logies
acosmism, absurdism, absolutism, ableism, aestheticism, alarmism, allotheism, anachronism, animalculism, analogism, animatism, animism and 464 more...
-
the brothers
factotem, extrapolation, antinomy, antenome, pusillanimous, capons, caftan, pejorative, cropper, cowl, perfidious, fichu and 138 more...
-
GRE
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abhor, abjure, abrasive, abridge, abstain, acme, activism, adhere, admonish and 195 more...
-
zanshin's Words
gargoyle, ennui, paradigm, aardvark, verisimilitude, ghoti, tenacity, nescience, guillemet, squonk, maven, moxie and 210 more...
-
Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
-
know-it-all
eunuch, couvade, ecclesiastes, enigma, inevitable, crucible, genteel, bedlam, baculum, scapulimancy, atrophy, smut and 170 more...
-
newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
-
madmelanie's Words
monkey, folderol, snark, snarky, flibbertigibbet, faith, asshat, pirouette, avuncular, exegesis, memento mori, verisimilitude and 379 more...
-
dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
-
Namesakes
Words derived from names, be they historical, literary, or mythological.
quixotic, cereal, odyssey, jovial, mercurial, erotic, achilles' heel, confucianism, lovecraftian, narcissism, echo, fallopian and 101 more...
-
Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
-
amy's GRE 2012
gimmicks, kowtow, unpretentious, skeptical, cynical, somber, prevaricate, equivocate, requisite, embellish, impregnable, procrastinate and 307 more...
-
Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
-
GRE
high frequent
industrious, feckless, debunk, quintessence, loquacious, obsequious, laconic, plethora, lugubrious, serendipity, facetious, turgid and 261 more...
-
Basic Vocaulary
censure, appease, affable, conviction, heretical, mundane, exalted, detached, paradigm, charisma, conformity, allude and 96 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for chauvinism.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.