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chauvinist

 - 4 dictionary results

chau⋅vin⋅ism

  [shoh-vuh-niz-uhm]
Use chauvinist in a Sentence
–noun
1. zealous and aggressive patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory.
2. biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause.

Origin:
1865–70; < F chauvinisme, equiv. to chauvin jingo (named after N. Chauvin, a soldier in Napoleon's army noted for loud-mouthed patriotism) + -isme -ism

Related forms:
chau⋅vin⋅ist, noun
chau⋅vin⋅is⋅tic, adjective
chau⋅vin⋅is⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To chauvinist
chau·vin·ism   (shō'və-nĭz'əm)   
n.  

  1. Militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism.

  2. 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.)


[French chauvinisme, after Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary French soldier famous for his devotion to Napoleon.]
chau'vin·ist n., chau'vin·is'tic adj., chau'vin·is'ti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

chauvinism

Exaggerated belief in the supremacy of one's nation, class, caste, or group. Chauvinism usually involves xenophobia.

Note: 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. (See also feminism.)
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

chauvinism 
1870, "exaggerated, blind patriotism," from Fr. chauvinisme (1843), from Nicholas Chauvin, soldier, possibly legendary, of Napoleon's Grand Armee, notoriously attached to the Empire long after it was history. Popularized in Fr. 1831 through Cogniard's vaudeville "La Cocarde Tricolore." Meaning extended to "sexism" via male chauvinism (1970). The name is a Fr. form of L. Calvinus and thus Calvinism and chauvinism are, etymologically, twins.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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