ideologue

noun

ideo·​logue ˈī-dē-ə-ˌlȯg 

-ˌläg

variants or less commonly idealogue

1

: an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology

2

: an impractical idealist : theorist

Synonyms

• crusader
• fanatic
• militant
• partisan
• partizan
• red hot
• true believer
• zealot

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

During a brutal four-year rule, the communist-nationalist ideologues of the Khmer Rouge killed between 1.6 million and 3 million people through executions, forced labor and starvation. —Sophal Ear, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2025

Maybe investors know something that the administration’s oddball collection of economic ideologues and mystics don’t understand. —Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 11 Apr. 2025

Trump’s latest moves to gut the EPA are led by Zeldin, far-right ideologues in the White House and billionaire Elon Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX have been fined by the agency for multiple violations of environmental laws. —Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2025

Leftist ideologues Michael Moore, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Clooney, Darren Aronofsky, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Sean Baker wouldn’t dare such a pronouncement. —Armond White, National Review, 19 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French idéologue, back-formation from idéologie

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 2