Todays Word

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

chauvinist

PRONUNCIATION:

(SHO-vuh-nist) 

MEANING:

noun: One who believes in the superiority of one’s country, group, gender, etc.
adjective: Believing in or relating to such beliefs.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Nicolas Chauvin, a legendary French soldier in Napoleon’s army, noted for his fanatical patriotism. The figure of Nicolas Chauvin was popularized in the play La Cocarde Tricolore by the Cogniard brothers. Earliest documented use: 1877. The concept is known as chauvinism.

NOTES:

Nicolas Chauvin supposedly loved Napoleon so much he made modern fanboys look like stoics. He was wounded 17 times, yet couldn’t stop singing La Marseillaise. Whether he actually existed is debated, but his overzealous devotion gave us chauvinism.
Originally, a chauvinist was an ultra-patriot, but over time the term broadened to include sexism, partisanship, and group smugness of every stripe. From “My country, right or wrong” it became “My anything, right or wrong.” Wrong, who said wrong, mine’s always right. Actually, mine’s better.

USAGE:

“Now Ms Silva is under attack in Brazil. Having returned to the helm of the environment ministry in 2023, on July 2nd she was summoned before a committee in the lower house of Congress to testify about deforestation. Lawmakers hurled insults at her for almost seven hours. They called her ‘inelegant’ and ‘a disgrace’, compared her to terrorists and told her to resign. In a previous exchange, senators had told her she ‘should know her place’ and that she did not deserve respect. Such chauvinist language is nasty, and reflects the state of environmental discourse in Brazil today.”
A Losing Battle; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 12, 2025.

See more usage examples of chauvinist in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.