ideologue

noun

ideo·​logue ˈī-dē-ə-ˌlȯg How to pronounce ideologue (audio)
-ˌläg
variants or less commonly idealogue
1
: an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology
2
: an impractical idealist : theorist

Examples of ideologue in a Sentence

as long as there are ideologues controlling both sides of the aisle, legislative compromise is out of the question the revolutionaries proved to be impractical ideologues who had no idea how to run a country
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Our service members won't be activists and ideologues. CBS News, 5 Mar. 2025 This is what happened in Washington: The unfettered power of the president kept expanding, Congress entered a state of sclerosis, the parties became apologists for their leaders, and courts fell into the hands of ideologues. Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2025 William Greenwalt, former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy — not a position held by free-market ideologues — has told the story of the MRAP program, where the military needed specialty steel to produce vehicles resistant to IEDs in the Middle East. The Editors, National Review, 11 Feb. 2025 Far-right ideologues have for years sought to suppress both racial consciousness and gender fluidity, in the name of a radical natalist ideology that highly values white, gender-conforming children. Samantha Riedel, Them, 30 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ideologue

Word History

Etymology

French idéologue, back-formation from idéologie

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of ideologue was in 1815

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Cite this Entry

“Ideologue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ideologue. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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