chauvinism

[shoh-vuh-niz-uh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chauvinism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

zealous and aggressive patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory.

biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause: religious chauvinism.

the denigration, disparagement, and patronization of either sex based on the belief that one sex is inferior to the other and thus deserving of less than equal treatment or benefit.Compare male chauvinism.

Origin of chauvinism

1865–70; < French chauvinisme, equivalent to chauvin jingo (named after N. Chauvin, a soldier in Napoleon's army noted for loud-mouthed patriotism) + -isme -ism

Related formschau·vin·ist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chauvinism

fanaticism, nationalism, jingoism, narrowness, zealotry, ethnocentricity

Examples from the Web for chauvinism

Contemporary Examples of chauvinism

We will give up and stop any manifestations of chauvinism and xenophobia.
Can Ukraine Control Its Far Right Ultranationalists?
Oleg Shynkarenko
March 1, 2014
Let's hope that that the increased presence of women in the new Knesset will help free us from that chauvinism once and for all.
The Latent Chauvinism Of Lapid's "Zoabiz" Apology
Rawia Aburabia
February 14, 2013
But the proper corrective to chauvinism is not to reverse it and practice it against males, but rather basic fairness.
And What About the Boys?
Ilana Glazer
February 4, 2013
Their patriarchy and chauvinism,” she says, “was harder on Iraqi culture than Iraqis themselves.
Hillary Clinton’s War for Women’s Rights
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
March 6, 2011

Historical Examples of chauvinism

This chauvinism has increased to a paroxysm, bordering on insanity.
The Story of the Great War, Volume I (of 8)
Various
Chauvinism is nowhere more repellent than in the things of the mind.
The American Spirit in Literature,
Bliss Perry
But democracy in Japan does not mean a diminution of Chauvinism in foreign policy.
The Problem of China
Bertrand Russell
In a specially marked manner the pan-Serb chauvinism showed itself during the Bosnian crisis.
Why We Are At War (2nd Edition, revised)
Members of the Oxford Faculty of Modern History
The pan-Serb chauvinism appeared especially marked during the Bosnian crisis.
Why We Are At War (2nd Edition, revised)
Members of the Oxford Faculty of Modern History

British Dictionary definitions for chauvinism

chauvinism

noun

aggressive or fanatical patriotism; jingoism

enthusiastic devotion to a cause

smug irrational belief in the superiority of one's own race, party, sex, etcmale chauvinism

Derived Formschauvinist, nounchauvinistic, adjectivechauvinistically, adverb

Word Origin for chauvinism

C19: from French chauvinisme, after Nicolas Chauvin, legendary French soldier under Napoleon, noted for his vociferous and unthinking patriotism

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

Word Origin and History for chauvinism

1840, "exaggerated, blind patriotism," from French chauvinisme (1839), from the character Nicholas Chauvin, soldier of Napoleon's Grand Armee, notoriously attached to the Empire long after it was history, in the Cogniards' popular 1831 vaudeville "La Cocarde Tricolore."

Meaning extended to "sexism" via male chauvinism (1969). The name is a French form of Latin Calvinus and thus Calvinism and chauvinism are, etymologically, twins. The name was a common one in Napoleon's army, and if there was a real person at the base of the character in the play, he has not been certainly identified by etymologists, though memoirs of Waterloo (one published in Paris in 1822) mention "one of our principal piqueurs, named Chauvin, who had returned with Napoleon from Elba," which implies loyalty.

chauvinism in Culture

chauvinism

Exaggerated belief in the supremacy of one's nation, class, caste, or group. Chauvinism usually involves xenophobia.

Note

The word chauvinism is often used as shorthand for “male chauvinism,” a term describing the attitudes of men who believe that women are inferior and should not be given equal status with men. (See also feminism (see also feminism).)