revanchist

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adjective

re·​vanch·​ist rə-ˈväⁿ-shist How to pronounce revanchist (audio)
: of or relating to a policy designed to recover lost territory or status : of or relating to a revanche
Each of Hitler's allies had their own, partially interrelated, expansionary or revanchist motives for attacking the Soviet Union.Michael Burleigh
Wilson brought with him a sheaf of high principles—democracy, self-determination, world government—that bore little relevance to the tangled politics and even more tangled geography of postwar Europe. His idealism was soon drowned out by the revanchist passions of his allies.Kenneth Auchincloss
also : advocating or fighting for the recovery of lost territory or status
While revanchist emperors, such as Julian, were still mouthing the aristocratic ideology of imperialist aggression, more realistic rulers, like Constantius II, recognized that the future lay in accommodation with the so-called barbarians who had already infiltrated the heights of army and administration. C. R. Whittaker

revanchist

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noun

plural revanchists
: one who advocates or fights for the recovery of lost territory or status : one who advocates a policy of revanche
In eastern and South-Eastern Europe today, one man's courageous defender of national self-determination is another's nostalgic revanchist.Tony Judt
Later in 2007, Pelosi plans to rewrite the laws on pork-barrel spending. She promises that the overall effect of her reforms will be "to break the link between lobbyists and legislation" in Washington. Who will win the coming battle between reformers and revanchists?Massimo Calabresi

Examples of revanchist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
In its first two weeks, Harris’s campaign has tried to define both the presumptive Democratic nominee and her supporters as average, and Trump as the fringe radical who wants to unleash Project 2025, a nine-hundred-page blueprint for a revanchist takeover of the country. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024 Russian officials, echoing their leader, are telling women to start young — at 18. As Putin seeks to restore Russia’s status as a superpower, his revanchist policies are rolling back women’s rights, Russian feminists say, with idealized roles fitted to the imperial era that predated communism. Natalia Abbakumova, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
Noun
But the story of fundamentalism’s near-demise, hibernation, and eventual rebirth as a revanchist, militant political force partly underpins the cultural conflict that threatens American democracy today. Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024 Allies will recall the history that brought them together and rally around the need to counter a revanchist Russia. Emily Rauhala, Washington Post, 8 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for revanchist 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'revanchist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1948, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1926, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of revanchist was in 1926

Dictionary Entries Near revanchist

Cite this Entry

“Revanchist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revanchist. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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