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exceptionalist

American  
[ik-sep-shuhn-uhl-ist] / ɪkˈsɛp ʃən əl ɪst /

noun

  • exceptionalists
    plural
  1. a person who believes that a nation, region, or political system is exceptional; a believer in exceptionalism.


adjective

  1. relating to or characterized by exceptionalism.

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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.

See Examples For:

Along the way Drake came to embody a streak of Englishness — bumptious, tenacious, patriotic, crafty, vainglorious and defiantly exceptionalist — that is back with a vengeance.

From New York Times Mar. 10, 2021

Even later, as much of the country acquiesced to the greed-is-good eighties and the end-of-history nineties, Esalen clung to its exceptionalist vibe.

From The New Yorker Aug. 19, 2019

Hip-hop, with its focus on individuality and its premium on exceptionalist virtuosity, doesn’t fit with this, and most of the greatest rappers spend almost no time trying to convince listeners that they’re “just like us.”

From Slate Oct. 18, 2018

While King did care about black and/or poor people in the United States and around the world, he was no American exceptionalist.

From The Guardian Jan. 15, 2018

Post-election, here was the shock for me: It turned out that I, too, was an American exceptionalist.

From Salon Jan. 5, 2017

On one side are the traditionalists, exceptionalists and reactionaries, who argue that men such as Thomas Jefferson remain beyond reproach, in spite of what we know about their deep-seated hypocrisy on the question of slavery.

From Washington Post Oct. 22, 2020

"There were still plenty of American exceptionalists," he says, who believed the US was unique among nations.

From BBC Nov. 27, 2018

For a certain stripe of older fan, the Roots are exceptionalists who embody all of hip-hop’s potential as an extension of the soul music tradition, and who keep hip-hop viable as live performance.

From New York Times Oct. 3, 2016

He ended by echoing the shining "city upon a hill" metaphor used by the great American exceptionalists from John Winthrop to Ronald Reagan.

From Time Magazine Archive

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