sans-culotte
Americannoun
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(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.
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any extreme republican or revolutionary.
noun
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(originally) a revolutionary of the poorer class
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(later) any revolutionary, esp one having extreme republican sympathies
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any revolutionary extremist
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sans-culotte
1780–90; < French: literally, without knee breeches
Explanation
A sans-culotte was a member of a working class political group in 18th- and 19th-century France. The sans-culottes played a large role in the French Revolution. The term sans-culotte means "without breeches" in French. This doesn’t mean that these radical partisans didn’t wear pants, but instead refers to their lower-class status. Wealthy, aristocratic French men typically wore knee-length breeches made of silk, while the working class sans-culottes dressed more practically, in long trousers. The group advocated for direct democracy, taxing the rich, and the idea that everyone was created equal.
Vocabulary lists containing sans-culotte
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.
Bastille Day, marking 229 years since the sans-culotte decided they’d had enough of the Ancien Régime and stormed the fortress, a crucial stage of the French Revolution.
From The Guardian • Jul. 14, 2018
He created effective turns for small characters, and the Met’s solid supporting cast includes the robust bass Robert Pomakov as Mathieu, a sans-culotte.
From New York Times • Mar. 25, 2014
A self-styled "evolutionary socialist," he hit the pukka sahibs of Malaya and its environs like a revolutionary sans-culotte.
From Time Magazine Archive
Instead, she gets Seymour Moskowitz, who pursues her with the fierce dedication of a sans-culotte storming the Bastille.
From Time Magazine Archive
His face bore the scars of wounds received at Minden, and his bravery, his stature, his bold and fierce manner, Houchard. his want of education, seemed to all to betoken the ideal sans-culotte general.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various
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.
