chauvinist

American  

[shoh-vuh-nist] / ˈʃoʊ və nɪst /

noun

1. a person who is aggressively and blindly patriotic, especially one devoted to military glory.

2. a person who believes one gender is superior to the other, as a or a

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Other Word Forms

• chauvinistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chauvinist

First recorded in 1860–65; chauvin(ism) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does chauvinist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• chauvinist vs. misogynist

Explanation

A chauvinist is someone who blindly and enthusiastically believes in the superiority of his cause or people. If you grew up in New York and refuse to eat at any pizzeria beyond a five-mile radius of the Empire State Building, you could be described as a New York pizza chauvinist. The word chauvinist comes from Nicholas Chauvin, a French soldier — probably fictional — who was so devoted to Napoleon that he continued to zealously support the emperor even after Napoleon rejected him. The put-down “male chauvinist pig” describes a man who believes that women are not as intelligent or worthy of respect as men. Often when we hear the word chauvinist, we think of arrogant men.

Example Sentences

Feminism, as Ariel Levy put it in “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” got “raunchy.”

From The New Yorker • Nov. 1, 2019

She was later introduced to Ariel Levy, the author of “The Rules Do Not Apply” and “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” who proved to be a co-writer on par excellence with J.R.

From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2019

Ariel Levy, feminist intellectual and author of Female Chauvinist Pigs, echoes this sentiment.

From The Guardian • Jan. 15, 2017

It’s a sub-category that was most developed in Ariel Levy’s “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” a book I hated more than I’d ever hated a book, because it understood me and my ilk all too well.

From Salon • Dec. 3, 2014

But if he would only discourage "Bull-fighting" in Egypt—the sort of "Bull-fighting" desired by Chauvinist M. DELONCLE—he would do good service to the land of the Pyramids, to the poor fellah, and to civilisation.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, August 9, 1890 by Various

Related Words

• female chauvinist
• male chauvinist
• misogynist