ideologue

noun

ideo·​logue ˈī-dē-ə-ˌlȯg How to pronounce ideologue (audio)
-ˌläg
variants or less commonly idealogue
1
: an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology
2
: an impractical idealist : theorist

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
When President Donald Trump appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court weeks before the 2020 election, outraged liberals attacked her as a right-wing ideologue while elated conservatives swooned over the promotion of a protégé of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 25 June 2025 But Texas Governor Abbott ignored them and instead sided with billionaires to replace state leadership that wouldn't vote his way on school vouchers, choosing instead to appease wealthy donors and fringe political ideologues. Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025 That this does not appear to have happened is probably due more to chaotic execution and the mischief of ideologues than to a failure in the promise of Silicon Valley as an organizing inspiration for the rest of us. Bill Fischer, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025 On the Trumpist right, the prevailing view is that the government has been overtaken by left-wing ideologues and the only solution is to clear-cut the bureaucracy. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 16 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for ideologue

Word History

Etymology

French idéologue, back-formation from idéologie

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of ideologue was in 1815

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Cite this Entry

“Ideologue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ideologue. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

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