Doctrinaire
adj, noun ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A person who stubbornly holds to a philosophy or opinion regardless of its feasibility.
"And he is not above feeling grave and well-contained satisfaction wherever the socialist doctrinaire has been contradicted by men attempting to practise coöperation in the midst of the competitive system, as in Belgium."
- 2 a stubborn person of arbitrary or arrogant opinions wordnet
- 3 In France, in 1815–30, one of a school who desired a constitution like that of Britain. historical
- 1 Stubbornly holding on to an idea without concern for practicalities or reality.
"Mr. Chapman began to talk in a loud voice about the situation in the House of Commons. He guffawed at his adversaries. The word doctrinaire—word full of terror to the British mind—reappeared from time to time between his explosions."
- 1 stubbornly insistent on theory without regard for practicality or suitability wordnet
Example
More examples"And he is not above feeling grave and well-contained satisfaction wherever the socialist doctrinaire has been contradicted by men attempting to practise coöperation in the midst of the competitive system, as in Belgium."
Etymology
Borrowed from French doctrinaire, from doctrine + -aire.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.