RINO

abbreviation or noun

ˈrī-(ˌ)nō 

plural RINOs

informal + disparaging

: a member of the Republican Party who is disloyal to the party or deemed insufficiently conservative : a Republican in name only

For die-hard loyalists eager to see their party purged of any "RINO" elements, that might be a price worth paying.

—Philip Wallach

Any Republicans who fought him were labeled RINOs and many were knocked off in primaries, leaving a party in which the former president remains the dominant figure.

—Howard Kurtz

Examples of RINO in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So, what‘s a radically moderate RINO like me to do? —Mike McGrew, Baltimore Sun, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Republican in name only

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above