sans-culotte
Americannoun
plural
sans-culottes-
(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
- sans-culottic adjective
- sans-culottish adjective
- sans-culottism noun
- sans-culottist noun
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
"But that fellow, Harvey Gerard, her father—why, he's a downright sans-culotte, sir."
From Lost Sir Massingberd, v. 2/2 A Romance of Real Life by Payn, James
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.
