Jacobin
Americannoun
-
(in the French Revolution) a member of a radical society or club of revolutionaries that promoted the Reign of Terror and other extreme measures, active chiefly from 1789 to 1794: so called from the Dominican convent in Paris, where they originally met.
-
an extreme radical, especially in politics.
-
a Dominican friar.
-
(lowercase) one of a fancy breed of domestic pigeons having neck feathers that hang over the head like a hood.
noun
-
a member of the most radical club founded during the French Revolution, which overthrew the Girondists in 1793 and, led by Robespierre, instituted the Reign of Terror
-
a leftist or extreme political radical
-
a French Dominican friar
-
(sometimes not capital) a variety of fancy pigeon with a hood of feathers swept up over and around the head
adjective
Other Word Forms
- Jacobinic adjective
- Jacobinical adjective
- Jacobinically adverb
- Jacobinism noun
Etymology
Origin of Jacobin
1275–1325; Middle English Jacobin < Old French ( frere ) jacobin < Medieval Latin ( frater ) Jacōbinus. See Jacob, -in 1
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.
In an article for the Times of India this month, Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of the American socialist magazine Jacobin, called Mr. Mamdani “the real deal—a Marxist by training and conviction.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025
Jacobin editors, meanwhile, had a whole book ready to go for the occasion of Kissinger’s death.
From Slate • Dec. 1, 2023
At the same time, the strength of the Jacobin party was weakening.
From Science Daily • Sep. 18, 2023
The fires that he warned about, he noted in a 2018 interview with the magazine Jacobin, not only were destructive, they also increased inequity.
From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2022
Jean must leave his Jacobin clubs and come to them.
From The Maid of Honour (Vol. 3 of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Wingfield, Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
