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 of ideologue

• partisan
• militant
• activist
• crusader

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

Apparently, ideologues who put their losing agenda above what’s best for the city’s residents. —The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 18 Feb. 2026

In the meantime, a group of ideologues inside the agency were elevated to the role of senior advisers in its top office. —Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2026

Young ideologues compete to prove their fealty to MAGA by engaging in a kind of transgressive one-upmanship. —Laura K. Field, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026

Freed from the ideologues who have held them hostage, even most bureaucrats serving in the Islamic Republic today could rediscover the best of our history and reorient their efforts toward our nation’s improvement. —Arash Azizi, Time, 3 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French idéologue, back-formation from idéologie

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 2