Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "chauvinism" [chau•vin•ism]

  • Militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism. (noun)
  • Prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind: "the chauvinism . . . of making extraterrestrial life in our own image” ( Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.) (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "chauvinism" in a sentence
  • "Israeli chauvinism is for some reason seen by political elites as the only politically viable stance, but there is no reason to suppose that real people feel the same way."
  • "The "Le Pen" of American public life (cf. the French you love to hate) apparently believes that demagogic national chauvinism is a ticket to political success."
  • "In polarised situations, it is almost natural for politicians to try and compete with each other in chauvinism rather than in their willingness to accommodate - Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine are particularly obvious examples, as indeed is Northern Ireland."