sans-culotte

[ sanz-kyoo-lot, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt ]

noun,plural sans-cu·lottes [sanz-kyoo-lots, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt]. /ˌsænz kyʊˈlɒts, -kʊ-; French sɑ̃ küˈlɔt/.
  1. (in the French Revolution) a revolutionary of the poorer class: originally a term of contempt applied by the aristocrats but later adopted as a popular name by the revolutionaries.

  2. any extreme republican or revolutionary.

Origin of sans-culotte

1
1780–90; <French: literally, without knee breeches

Other words from sans-culotte

  • sans-cu·lot·tic [sanz-kyoo-lot-ik, -koo-], /ˌsænz kyʊˈlɒt ɪk, -kʊ-/, adjective
  • sans-cu·lot·tish, adjective
  • sans-cu·lot·tism, noun
  • sans-cu·lot·tist, noun

Words Nearby sans-culotte

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sans-culotte in a sentence

  • Clearly the sans-culotte of Brussels was a mere tinsel imitation of the genuine article at Paris.

    Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
  • Hard names were not wanting either; Jefferson was ridiculed as a sans-culotte and red-legged Democrat.

    Albert Gallatin | John Austin Stevens
  • Two men in sans-culotte costume were seated at a small table in the restaurant of Père Lefèvre.

    When a Cobbler Ruled a King | Augusta Huiell Seaman
  • He could not even command words in which to thank this kind-hearted sans-culotte for his timely warning.

    When a Cobbler Ruled a King | Augusta Huiell Seaman
  • "Aye, he took French leave, the b--y sans culotte" returned the captain, putting himself in a better humor with his own pun.

    The Wing-and-Wing | J. Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for sans-culotte

sans-culotte

/ (ˌsænzkjʊˈlɒt, French sɑ̃kylɔt) /


noun
  1. (during the French Revolution)

    • (originally) a revolutionary of the poorer class

    • (later) any revolutionary, esp one having extreme republican sympathies

  2. any revolutionary extremist

Origin of sans-culotte

1
C18: from French, literally: without knee breeches, because the revolutionaries wore pantaloons or trousers rather than knee breeches

Derived forms of sans-culotte

  • sans-culottism, noun
  • sans-culottist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012