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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.


bonnet rouge British  
/ bɔnɛ ruʒ /

noun

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

  2. an extremist or revolutionary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bonnet rouge

literally: red cap

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.

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

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

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

The citizens, who have adopted the bonnet rouge through a laudable patriotism, will lose nothing by laying it aside.

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

Ung sainct homme habill� d'une robbe de taffetas noir et ung bonnet rouge.

From The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria by Tremayne, Eleanor E.