revanchist

revanchist

See also: Revanchist

English

WOTD – 8 February 2009

Etymology

From French revanchiste, from revanche (“revenge”) +‎ -ist.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈvæn(t)ʃɪst/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈvɑnt͡ʃɪst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

revanchist (plural revanchists)

1. A revanchist person; occasionally, anyone seeking vengeance.
   • 1997, Tony Hendra, “Old soldiers”, in Harper's Magazine, volume 295, number 1766, page 53:

     The next day, newspapers across the political spectrum will express varying degrees of outrage at the president's discourtesy, ignorance, and lack of style; one will accuse him of being a revanchist.

   • 2014 July 2, Jeff Shesol, “Rightward Bound: 'Uncertain Justice' and 'Scalia'”, in The New York Times‎ (book review; International New York Times version: The Court: Rightward bound: Uncertain Justice. The Warren Court and the Constitution. By Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz. 401 pages. Henry Holt & Company. $32. Scalia. A Court of One. By Bruce Allen Murphy. Illustrated. 644 pages. Simon & Schuster. $35. 10 July 2014, p. 9):

     Mr. Murphy tracks shifts in Justice Scalia's approach and what differentiates it from those of other textual revanchists, whether Justice Clarence Thomas or the legal scholar Robert Bork.

Translations

revanchist, vengeful person

Belarusian: рэваншы́ст m (revanšýst) Chinese: Mandarin: 復仇主義者／复仇主义者 (fùchóuzhǔyì zhě) Czech: revanšista m, revanšistka f Danish: revanchist c Finnish: revansisti French: revanchiste (fr) m or f, revanchard (fr) m, revancharde (fr) f German: Revanchist m, Revanchistin f Greek: ρεβανσιστής (el) m (revansistís), ρεβανσίστρια (el) f (revansístria) Italian: revanscista m or f Japanese: 報復主義者 (ほうふくしゅぎしゃ, hōfukushugisha) Korean: 보복주의자 (bobokjuuija) Norwegian: revansjist m Polish: rewanżysta m, rewanżystka f, odwetowiec m, odwetówka f Portuguese: revanchista m or f Romanian: revanșist m, revanșistă f, revanșard (ro) m, revanșardă (ro) f Russian: реванши́ст (ru) m (revanšíst), реванши́стка f (revanšístka) Spanish: revanchista m or f Swedish: revanschist c Turkish: rövanşist Ukrainian: реванши́ст m (revanšýst), реванши́стка f (revanšýstka)

avenger — see avenger

Adjective

revanchist (not comparable)

1. Seeking revenge or otherwise advocating retaliation, especially against a nation which has previously defeated and humiliated the revanchist party in war. Originally referred to the French indignation over losing Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War.
   • 1974 March 20, “The Legacy of a 'Good German'”, in Time:

     No longer did young German tourists in France or Holland have to pretend that they were Swedes, and no longer did the governments of Eastern Europe blame all their problems on the “revanchist West Germans”.

   • 2009 September 29, Jackson Lears, “The Waxing and Waning of America's Political Right”, in The New York Times‎, retrieved 2009 October 5:

     What remains is an elegant brief history of the modern conservative movement, as unsparing in its critique of liberal hubris as of revanchist resentment.

   • 2018 January 8, Rick Wilson, “Bannon Banished for Telling Truths About Trump as MAGA Monsters Turn on Each Other”, in The Daily Beast‎:

     Bannon, they proclaimed, was Trumpism in its distilled essence: revanchist, ahistorical, racially inflected, and consumed with an imaginary war on the media and America’s broader society.

Translations

advocating a policy of revanche

Belarusian: рэваншы́сцкі (revanšýscki) Czech: revanšistický Danish: revanchistisk Dutch: revanchistisch (nl) Finnish: revansistinen French: revanchiste (fr), revanchard (fr) German: revanchistisch Greek: ρεβανσιστικός (el) (revansistikós) Italian: revanscistico Norwegian: revansjistisk Polish: rewanżystyczny m, rewanżystowski m, odwetowy Portuguese: revanchista m or f Romanian: revanșard (ro) Russian: реванши́стский (ru) (revanšístskij) Spanish: revanchista Swedish: revanschistisk Ukrainian: реванши́стський (revanšýstsʹkyj)

Related terms

• revanche
• revanchism