doctrinaire
[dok-truh-nair]
- a person who tries to apply some doctrine or theory without sufficient regard for practical considerations; an impractical theorist.
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- dogmatic about others' acceptance of one's ideas; fanatical: a doctrinaire preacher.
- merely theoretical; impractical.
- of, relating to, or characteristic of a doctrinaire.
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Origin of doctrinaire
Synonyms
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
authoritarianauthoritativebiasedbigotedbullheadeddictatorialdoggedfanaticalimpracticalinflexibleinsistentmagisterialmulishobstinateone-sidedpertinaciouspigheadedrigidspeculativestubbornExamples from the Web for doctrinaire
Contemporary Examples
Bachmann is so doctrinaire she seems unlikely to be a serious contender in the general election.
In this selective narrative, the only path to truth is doctrinaire conservatism.
Hatch pushed for justices from the “mainstream” rather than “doctrinaire liberals.”
Historical Examples
It has been well said of him that he never became either a pedant or a doctrinaire.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
It is the hideous figure of the doctrinaire which Erasmus is thinking of.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
To these, as a "forward" party, the doctrinaire theorists have allied themselves.
The New SocietyWalther Rathenau
If his mind did not naturally work that way he would not be a Doctrinaire.
By the Christmas FireSamuel McChord Crothers
The Doctrinaire can never realize the fatal nature of the "too-much."
By the Christmas FireSamuel McChord Crothers
doctrinaire
- stubbornly insistent on the observation of the niceties of a theory, esp without regard to practicality, suitability, etc
- theoretical; impractical
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- a person who stubbornly attempts to apply a theory without regard to practical difficulties
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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 doctrinaire
n.
1820, from French doctrinaire "impractical person," originally "adherent of doctrines" (14c.), from Latin doctrina (see doctrine).
At first used in the context of French politics, contemptuously applied by rival factions to those who tried to reconcile liberty with royal authority after 1815. Hence, anyone who applies doctrine without making allowance for practical considerations (1831). As an adjective, from 1834.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper