Chauvinist
**Other forms: chauvinists
A Chauvinist is someone who blindly and enthusiastically believes in the superiority of his cause or people. If you grew up in New York and refuse to eat at any pizzeria beyond a five-mile radius of the Empire State Building, you could be described as a New York pizza chauvinist.
The word chauvinist meaning comes from Nicholas Chauvin, a French soldier — probably fictional — who was so devoted to Napoleon that he continued to zealously support the emperor even after Napoleon rejected him. The put-down “male chauvinist pig” describes a man who believes that women are not as intelligent or worthy of respect as men. Often when we hear the word chauvinist, we think of arrogant men.
Chauvinist Definitions
– A person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind.
– An extreme bellicose nationalist.
Examples from Books and Articles
-
But in a strict, logical sense, some means “at least one” and does not rule out “all”; there’s no contradiction in saying Some men are chauvinists; indeed, all of them are.
The Sense of Style
-
In a loose, conversational sense, some implies “some, but not all”: when I say Some men are chauvinists, it’s natural to interpret me as implying that others are not.
The Sense of Style
-
But this last alternative seems to me to be special pleading: I am, reluctantly, a self-confessed carbon chauvinist.
Cosmos
-
They would entice her to see the engineer as an arrogant chauvinist and racist if she let them.
Hidden Figures
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘chauvinist’. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Alltypemeaning.com or its editors.