bunker mentality
noun
: a state of mind especially among members of a group that is characterized by chauvinistic defensiveness and self-righteous intolerance of criticism
Examples of bunker mentality in a Sentence
Faced with the threat of scandal, the company adopted a bunker mentality and refused to talk with reporters.
Recent Examples on the Web
There's always going to be that bunker mentality that conservatives on campus will feel.
—
TIME, 17 Jan. 2024
Spota and Burke were gone, but the bunker mentality remained.
—Robert Kolker, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
It’s a breath of fresh air to the bunker mentality that nowadays pervades law enforcement.
—Gustavo Arellanocolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2022
It might also be argued that the worst damage has been self-inflicted: The denizens of Broadcasting House remain beset by both institutional complacency and a bunker mentality.
—Dominic Green, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
Fearmongering writ- ers sold over forty-five million books citing Y2K-disaster scenarios, from civil war and planes dropping out of the sky to the total collapse of the banking system, advocating food hoarding and a bunker mentality.
—Steve Adelman, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 2022
Ultimately, the key to keeping houses of worship relatively accessible to newcomers may lie in dispelling a bunker mentality within the denomination.
—Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2022
His latest belligerence follows two years of pandemic isolation and eight years of Western sanctions that analysts say have fed the bunker mentality Putin has exhibited since his earliest years.
—Paul Sonne and Robyn Dixon, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Feb. 2022
Keefe’s reporting on the Sacklers, a mammoth undertaking that draws on discovery documents, internal company memos, and emails displaying Succession-level bickering among Sackler family members, is a window into their bunker mentality, reinforced by impenetrable walls of denial.
—Zachary Siegel, The New Republic, 23 Apr. 2021
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TIME, 17 Jan. 2024
Spota and Burke were gone, but the bunker mentality remained.
—Robert Kolker, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
It’s a breath of fresh air to the bunker mentality that nowadays pervades law enforcement.
—Gustavo Arellanocolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2022
It might also be argued that the worst damage has been self-inflicted: The denizens of Broadcasting House remain beset by both institutional complacency and a bunker mentality.
—Dominic Green, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
Fearmongering writ- ers sold over forty-five million books citing Y2K-disaster scenarios, from civil war and planes dropping out of the sky to the total collapse of the banking system, advocating food hoarding and a bunker mentality.
—Steve Adelman, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 2022
Ultimately, the key to keeping houses of worship relatively accessible to newcomers may lie in dispelling a bunker mentality within the denomination.
—Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2022
His latest belligerence follows two years of pandemic isolation and eight years of Western sanctions that analysts say have fed the bunker mentality Putin has exhibited since his earliest years.
—Paul Sonne and Robyn Dixon, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Feb. 2022
Keefe’s reporting on the Sacklers, a mammoth undertaking that draws on discovery documents, internal company memos, and emails displaying Succession-level bickering among Sackler family members, is a window into their bunker mentality, reinforced by impenetrable walls of denial.
—Zachary Siegel, The New Republic, 23 Apr. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Bunker mentality.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bunker%20mentality. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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