sans-culotte

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

noun

, plural sans-cu·lottes [sanz-ky, oo, -, lots, -k, oo, -, sah, n, -k, y, -, lawt].

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.

sans-culotte

/ ˌsænzkjʊˈlɒt; sɑ̃kylɔt /

noun

1. during the French Revolution
   1. (originally) a revolutionary of the poorer class
   2. (later) any revolutionary, esp one having extreme republican sympathies
2. any revolutionary extremist

Derived Forms

• ˌsans-cuˈlottist, noun
• ˌsans-cuˈlottism, noun

Other Words From

• sans-cu·lot·tic [sanz-ky, oo, -, lot, -ik, -k, oo, -], adjective
• sans-cu·lottish adjective
• sans-cu·lottism noun
• sans-cu·lottist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sans-culotte¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sans-culotte¹

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

Example Sentences

The author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn had been brought up on tales of an aristocratic ancestor who came to London during the French Revolution, fleeing the guillotine and the militant sans-culottes.

From BBC

The sans-culottes of the French Revolution and the yellow vests of the French revolt centuries later.

From New York Times

It was an uprising of enslaved people—the “true sans-culottes of the colonies,” according to one French Republican leader—in Saint-Domingue that forced the 1794 abolition of slavery.

From The New Yorker

Bastille Day, marking 229 years since the sans-culotte decided they’d had enough of the Ancien Régime and stormed the fortress, a crucial stage of the French Revolution.

From The Guardian

It assumes that this “base” is a rabid, unthinking multitude of sans-culottes who must be obeyed.

From Washington Post