neocon

American  

[nee-oh-kon] / ˌni oʊˈkɒn /

noun

1. an advocate or supporter of neoconservatism; a neoconservative.

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Etymology

Origin of neocon

First recorded in 1975–80; by shortening

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Explanation

A neocon is someone who agrees politically with conservative ideas including free market capitalism. Moderate conservatives tend to clash with neocons on issues of foreign policy. Faith in the free market is one important belief of neocons, but even more important is their support of interventionism. In other words, neocons support actively promoting democracy around the world, even if that means using military force. Neocon is short for neoconservative, which adds the neo-, or "new," prefix to conservative. The original neocons abandoned their formerly leftist ideals in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neocon

You can call John Bolton a lot of things — bully, brawler, neocon — but not many would call him a dummy.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2020

“I wouldn’t put my views in a libertarian box or neocon box,” he concluded.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2020

She later added: "OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest."

From Fox News ● Mar. 30, 2019

Author: Jennifer Rubin has written the Right Turn column for the Washington Post since 2010, before which time she worked at neocon bible the Weekly Standard.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 26, 2017

Then, Hamilton was embraced by the likes of David Brooks, the Times’s neocon opinionizer, and Richard Brookhiser, whose 1999 biography celebrated Hamilton as the founding father of American capitalism.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 25, 2015

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