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View synonyms for doctrinaire

doctrinaire

[ dok-truh-nair ]

noun

  1. a person who tries to apply some doctrine or theory without sufficient regard for practical considerations; an impractical theorist.


adjective

  1. dogmatic about others' acceptance of one's ideas; fanatical:

    a doctrinaire preacher.

    Synonyms: unyielding, inflexible, uncompromising, authoritarian

    Antonyms: flexible, reasonable

  2. merely theoretical; impractical.
  3. of, relating to, or characteristic of a doctrinaire.

doctrinaire

/ ˌdɒktrɪˈnɛə /

adjective

  1. stubbornly insistent on the observation of the niceties of a theory, esp without regard to practicality, suitability, etc
  2. theoretical; impractical
“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


noun

  1. a person who stubbornly attempts to apply a theory without regard to practical difficulties
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˌdoctriˈnarian, noun
  • ˌdoctriˈnairism, noun
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Other Words From

  • doctri·nairism noun
  • nondoc·tri·naire adjective
  • over·doctri·naire adjective
  • un·doctri·naire adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of doctrinaire1

From French, dating back to 1810–20; doctrine, -aire
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Example Sentences

Hernández insists Petro will turn Colombia into Venezuela, a country with an economy run into the ground by years of recklessly doctrinaire socialist policies imposed in the name of populist revolution.

From Time

Even though HBES members were in the avant garde of studying human behavior from an evolutionary perspective, most of them were doctrinaire in their rejection of group selection.

But he also prides himself on not being doctrinaire in his beliefs.

Bachmann is so doctrinaire she seems unlikely to be a serious contender in the general election.

In this selective narrative, the only path to truth is doctrinaire conservatism.

This was a watershed between doctrinaire aggression and physical aggression.

Governance has even led him to moderate some of his more doctrinaire conservative views, he said.

To these, as a "forward" party, the doctrinaire theorists have allied themselves.

If his mind did not naturally work that way he would not be a Doctrinaire.

The Doctrinaire can never realize the fatal nature of the "too-much."

None the less, all attempts to win the working men from the doctrinaire Socialists failed.

The strength of the new party was frittered away in doctrinaire factional strife between the single taxers and the socialists.

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