flag-waving

noun

flag-wav·​ing ˈflag-ˌwā-viŋ 

: excessively passionate appeal to patriotic or partisan sentiment : chauvinism

an article that was nothing more than flag-waving

—often used before another noun

flag-waving rhetoric

Examples of flag-waving in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Skills could still be admired, but the flag-waving, face-painting, arm-thrusting, chanting, singing, and taunting might reasonably have seemed destined for extinction. —Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026

There’s been a quiet but persuasive strain of Americana threading through NYFW, not the bombastic, flag-waving kind, but something more intimate and lived-in. —Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 17 Feb. 2026

Living with a lockdown Athletes are usually free to meet and mingle with rivals from around the world in the Olympic Village and play games before enthusiastic flag-waving crowds. —Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 11 Feb. 2026

The stands were packed with flag-waving fans. —Pat Graham, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flag-waving

• behaving
• engraving
• enslaving
• lifesaving
• repaving
• autoclaving
• misbehaving
• braving
• caving
• craving
• graving
• laving