chauvinism
Americannoun
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zealous and aggressive patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory.
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biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause.
religious chauvinism.
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the denigration, disparagement, and patronization of a particular gender based on the belief that one gender is inferior to another and thus deserving of less than equal treatment or benefit.
noun
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aggressive or fanatical patriotism; jingoism
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enthusiastic devotion to a cause
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smug irrational belief in the superiority of one's own race, party, sex, etc
male chauvinism
Discover More
The word chauvinism is often used as shorthand for “male chauvinism,” a term describing the attitudes of men who believe that women are inferior and should not be given equal status with men. (See also feminism (see also feminism).)
Other Word Forms
- chauvinist noun
- chauvinistic adjective
- chauvinistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of chauvinism
First recorded in 1865–70; from French chauvinisme, equivalent to chauvin “jingo” (named after N. Chauvin, a soldier in Napoleon's army noted for loud-mouthed patriotism) + -isme -ism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
López Obrador has put women in important positions in his Cabinet and been a mentor for Sheinbaum, even while being accused at times of male chauvinism.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 6, 2023
“The current flourishing of novels by women and cultural minorities,” he concedes, “shows the chauvinism of judging the vitality of American letters by the fortunes of the traditional social novel.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2023
She grew up in Houston and couldn't appeal to rural chauvinism to escape police clutches.
From Salon • Oct. 12, 2022
Vince recognizes some of the difficulties, noting that for her plan to succeed, humans would first have to abandon racism, chauvinism and nationalism and become citizens of the world.
From Washington Post • Sep. 9, 2022
There was an element of chauvinism in this—the French supported their own champion and rejected the ideas of the perfidious Englishman, while Newton was, of course, very much a prophet honoured in his own country.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
