flag-waving

[ flag-wey-ving ]

noun

1. an ostentatiously emotional display of patriotism or factionalism.

flag-waving

noun

1. informal.
   1. an emotional appeal or display intended to arouse patriotic or nationalistic feeling
   2. ( as modifier )

      a flag-waving speech

Derived Forms

• ˈflag-ˌwaver, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of flag-waving¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

These numbers don’t reveal much evidence of raging majoritarian white nationalism or the notion that African Americans would be alienated by flag-waving.

From Salon

For Republicans, that should have become uncomfortably clear during last week’s Democratic National Convention, when the party of traditionally unherdable cats became a flag-waving, “Born in the U.S.A.”- singing single-celled organism.

From Los Angeles Times

Democrats are embracing unabashed flag-waving patriotism once again, after what felt like a forced hiatus.

From Salon

The Duchess and I were two tired mice by the time the Princess rolled out of the palace gates, behind her royal mother, into the sea of flag-waving humans.

From Literature

The China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA, held a send-off ceremony — complete with flag-waving children and patriotic music — for the Shenzhou-18 crew earlier on Thursday, as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spacecraft.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• loyalty
• nationalism