Bourbonism

American  

[boor-buh-niz-uhm, bur-] / ˈbʊər bəˌnɪz əm, ˈbɜr- /

noun

1. adherence to the ideas and system of government practiced by the Bourbons.

2. extreme conservatism, especially in politics.

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Bourbonism British  

/ ˈbʊəbəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. support for the rule of the Bourbons, the European royal line that ruled in France from 1589 to 1793 and 1815–48, and in Spain (1700–1808; 1813–1931) and Naples and Sicily (1734–1806; 1815–1860)

2. extreme political and social conservatism

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Other Word Forms

• Bourbonian adjective
• Bourbonic adjective
• Bourbonist noun

Etymology

Origin of Bourbonism

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80; Bourbon + -ism

Example Sentences

The high tide of reaction was reached in 1935, when the most charitable liberal observation was the New Republic's: that that year's convention was a "perfect example of Bourbonism in full flower."

From Time Magazine Archive

To them Lippmann as an opponent of the New Deal is a man convicted of treason to progressive social ideals, a turncoat, seduced not by cash but by the meretricious appeals of Bourbonism.

From Time Magazine Archive

But ahead lies the danger of the fifth stage: the coming of a dictator still fired by some revolutionary zeal, and beyond that, the possibility, of a Bourbonism restored.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Uncle Joe" Cannon, their Speaker of the House, reveled in his Bourbonism, made it as obnoxious as he could, and then was swept away by the enraged Liberals.

From Theodore Roosevelt; an Intimate Biography by Thayer, William Roscoe

Wise, John S., shows effects of John Brown's raid in South, 169; criticises Bourbonism in Southern politics, 388.

From The Negro and the Nation A History of American Slavery and Enfranchisement by Merriam, George Spring