ideologue
ideologue Lexical Profile
ideologue Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An uncompromising, often dogmatic adherent of a particular political, social, or economic ideology who prioritizes abstract theory over practical considerations.
"Critics argued that the new committee was stacked with partisan ideologues rather than pragmatic policy experts."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Ideologue" is almost always used pejoratively in modern English to suggest that a person prioritizes rigid political or philosophical doctrine over practical reality; for a more neutral or positive term describing someone guided by lofty principles, "idealist" is preferred.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 19th century from French idéologue, a back-formation from idéologie ('ideology'), originally coined during the French Revolution and famously used disparagingly by Napoleon Bonaparte to mock abstract political theorists.