bonnet rouge

American  

[baw-ne roozh] / bɔ nɛ ˈruʒ /

noun

French.

plural

bonnets rouges

1. a red liberty cap, worn by extremists during the French Revolution.

2. an extremist or radical.

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bonnet rouge British  

/ bɔnɛ ruʒ /

noun

1. a red cap worn by ardent supporters of the French Revolution

2. an extremist or revolutionary

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Etymology

Origin of bonnet rouge

literally: red cap

Example Sentences

His riff on red asked if the colour of revolution was inspired by blood or by fire, and took in the bonnet rouge of the French Revolution, Garibaldi, Uruguayan butchers, bullfighters and Buddhism.

From The Guardian • Sep. 24, 2017

"If you love the nation," said a volunteer to the queen, "put the bonnet rouge on your son's head."

From History of the Girondists, Volume I Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution by Ryde, H. T.

Even such a man as Samuel Adams, at a dinner on board of a French frigate, could put the bonnet rouge on his venerable head, and pray that "France alone might rule the seas."

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865 by Various

The only thing for which I have ever reproached Louis XVI. was for having for one moment suffered the bonnet rouge to be placed upon his head to save his royalty.

From France in the Nineteenth Century by Latimer, Elizabeth

We protest, therefore, against the parochial criticism which would degrade Dante to a mere partisan, which sees in him a Luther before his time, and would clap the bonnet rouge upon his heavenly muse.

From Among My Books Second Series by Lowell, James Russell