bigot

noun

big·​ot ˈbi-gət How to pronounce bigot (audio)
: a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices
especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

Examples of bigot in a Sentence

"It's scandalous," he said, in the tones once used by Colonel Blimp, Britain's best-loved bigot, who adorned the pages of the Evening Standard throughout the 1930s. Nicholas Fraser, Harper's, September 1996
A bigot is a hater, she said. A bigot hates Catholics. A bigot hates Jews.  … It's no sin to be poor, she said. It is a sin to be a bigot. Don't ever be one of them. Pete Hamill, A Drinking Life, 1994
One had always to be mindful, moreover, that being a black scholar did not exempt one from the humiliations and indignities that a society with more than its share of bigots can heap upon a black person, regardless of education … John Hope Franklin, "John Hope Franklin: A Life of Learning," 1988, in Race and History1989
He was labeled a bigot after making some offensive comments. an incorrigible bigot who hasn't entertained a new thought in years
Recent Examples on the Web An unidentified Black man in the clip explains to students minorities can be bigots, express racial prejudice and engage in acts of discrimination against others. Kendrick Marshall, Charlotte Observer, 2 Mar. 2024 Specifically, both texts argue for the virtue of racial color-blindness, and for not acting as a bigot in any particular direction. Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 22 Feb. 2024 What's most shocking isn't that there are anti-gay and anti-trans bigots in the world. Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2024 Instead of denying accusations or attacking the conservative media critics who surfaced the problem as bigots, Zakaria candidly admitted the error. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 10 Jan. 2024 The term was devised by an anti-Jewish bigot — Wilhelm Marr. Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 14 Jan. 2024 Blocking servers that are actually infested with harassers and bigots is A-OK, and indeed a worthwhile leisure activity. Mark Bayliss, Ars Technica, 29 June 2023 The movie feels very of-the-moment (almost frustratingly so) in its critique of religious hypocrisy and backward gender dynamics, and yet, one longs for a little more nuance in the clownish way these bigots and blowhards are depicted. Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Jan. 2024 Godfrey Cambridge stars as a white bigot who wakes up one morning in his suburban home as a Black man. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bigot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, hypocrite, bigot

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bigot was in 1660

Dictionary Entries Near bigot

Cite this Entry

“Bigot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bigot. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bigot

noun
big·​ot ˈbig-ət How to pronounce bigot (audio)
: a person who won't listen to anyone whose ideas or beliefs are different from his or her own
especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial group) with hatred and intolerance
bigoted adjective

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