revanchist

American  

[ruh-van-chist, -vahn-shist] / rəˈvæn tʃɪst, -ˈvɑ̃ ʃɪst /

noun

1. an advocate or supporter of a political policy of revanche, especially in order to seek vengeance for a previous military defeat.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a political policy of revanche.

2. of or relating to revanchists or revanchism.

Other Word Forms

• revanchism noun

Etymology

Origin of revanchist

1925–30; < French revanchiste; see revanche, -ist

Explanation

Anything described as revanchist is connected to a political policy of reclaiming lost territory. A powerful country's revanchist actions often lead to war. The noun revanchist was coined in the 1920s to describe Germans who were focused on reclaiming territory lost during World War I. As an adjective, it's used to talk about the political idea of revanche, or revenge in the form of taking back land that was lost in an earlier military conflict. Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait is an example of a revanchist policy; the government claimed that Kuwait, autonomous since 1913, was actually part of Iraq.

Example Sentences

In a revanchist backlash, music was a balm.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

Santa Fe’s production, titled “Orfeo,” is not intended as a grand revanchist blow against the period-instrument movement that has claimed early music as its own for decades.

From New York Times • Jul. 22, 2023

Beginning as a feud between culturally ambitious game critics and a claque of revanchist fans, Gamergate became a free-floating snowball of grievance.

From The Verge • Dec. 12, 2019

So it’s had a thousand years to fester into a kind of revanchist gentrification.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2017

After an attack by the aforementioned revanchist splinter group, the three “piled into the main bed and spooned together, trying to feel protected and safe.”

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2015