Whiggish

[ hwig-ish, wig- ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Whigs or Whiggism.
2. inclined to Whiggism.

Other Words From

• Whiggish·ly adverb
• Whiggish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Whiggish¹

First recorded in 1670–80; Whig + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

I am not so Whiggish in my thinking as to believe that this effort to censor American history for students is doomed to failure.

From New York Times

Even some scholars whose work has most powerfully chipped away at the Whiggish view of the Revolution as unleashing a steady march to universal liberty and equality say they are uneasy at what they see as its hijacking by anti-democratic extremists.

From New York Times

If the election of Hiram Revels seemed to augur a permanent change in our democracy, the subsequent abrogation of blacks’ constitutional rights in the South, with the acquiescence of the rest of the nation, reminds us that our history is not a Whiggish saga of greater and greater freedom, but a more complicated story of rights gained and rights taken away.

From New York Times

Most Americans have a Whiggish view of their history, in which the story of America is one of gradual moral progress and expanding political liberty — of the nation continuously moving toward a more perfect union.

From New York Times

In recent years much of the historical profession has moved away from this kind of top-down, “Whiggish” history and toward a broader democratic vision of the American past that resurrects the contributions and voices of those too often lost to public memory.

From The Guardian