sans-culotte

[ sanz-kyoo-lot, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt ]

/ ˌsænz kyʊˈlɒt, -kʊ-; French sɑ̃ küˈlɔt /

noun, plural sans-cu·lottes [sanz-kyoo-lots, -koo-; French sahn-ky-lawt] /ˌsænz kyʊˈlɒts, -kʊ-; French sɑ̃ küˈlɔt/.

(in the French Revolution) a revolutionary of the poorer class: originally a term of contempt applied by the aristocrats but later adopted as a popular name by the revolutionaries.

any extreme republican or revolutionary.

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Words nearby sans-culotte

sans doute, sans gêne, sans peur et sans reproche, sans serif, sans souci, sans-culotte, sans., sansei, sansevieria, sansk., sanskrit

Origin of sans-culotte

1780–90; < French: literally, without knee breeches

OTHER WORDS FROM sans-culotte

sans-cu·lot·tic

[sanz-kyoo-lot-ik, -koo-] /ˌsænz kyʊˈlɒt ɪk, -kʊ-/, adjectivesans-cu·lot·tish, adjectivesans-cu·lot·tism, nounsans-cu·lot·tist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for sans-culotte

"These are all sans-culotte literature, I take it," said his Lordship; but the youth was stupefied and silent.
The Fortunes Of Glencore|Charles James Lever
Two men in sans-culotte costume were seated at a small table in the restaurant of Père Lefèvre.
When a Cobbler Ruled a King|Augusta Huiell Seaman
A sans-culotte, who lived near by and whose suspicions had been aroused, followed him one evening.
Which?|Ernest Daudet
Clearly the sans-culotte of Brussels was a mere tinsel imitation of the genuine article at Paris.
Belgium|George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond

Fancy living in a room with David's sans-culotte Leonidas staring perpetually in your face!
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh|William Makepeace Thackeray

British Dictionary definitions for sans-culotte

sans-culotte

/ (ˌsænzkjʊˈlɒt, French sɑ̃kylɔt) /

noun

(during the French Revolution)

(originally) a revolutionary of the poorer class
(later) any revolutionary, esp one having extreme republican sympathies

any revolutionary extremist

Derived forms of sans-culotte

sans-culottism, nounsans-culottist, noun

Word Origin for sans-culotte

C18: from French, literally: without knee breeches, because the revolutionaries wore pantaloons or trousers rather than knee breeches

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