revanchist

adjective

re·vanch·ist | \ rə-ˈväⁿ-shist

Definition of revanchist

(Entry 1 of 2)

: of or relating to a policy designed to recover lost territory or status : of or relating to a revanche Each of Hitler's allies had their own, partially interrelated, expansionary or revanchist motives for attacking the Soviet Union.— Michael Burleigh Wilson brought with him a sheaf of high principles—democracy, self-determination, world government—that bore little relevance to the tangled politics and even more tangled geography of postwar Europe. His idealism was soon drowned out by the revanchist passions of his allies.— Kenneth Auchincloss also : advocating or fighting for the recovery of lost territory or status While revanchist emperors, such as Julian, were still mouthing the aristocratic ideology of imperialist aggression, more realistic rulers, like Constantius II, recognized that the future lay in accommodation with the so-called barbarians who had already infiltrated the heights of army and administration. — C. R. Whittaker

revanchist

noun

\ rə-ˈväⁿ-shist

plural revanchists

Definition of revanchist (Entry 2 of 2)

: one who advocates or fights for the recovery of lost territory or status : one who advocates a policy of revanche In eastern and South-Eastern Europe today, one man's courageous defender of national self-determination is another's nostalgic revanchist.— Tony Judt Later in 2007, Pelosi plans to rewrite the laws on pork-barrel spending. She promises that the overall effect of her reforms will be "to break the link between lobbyists and legislation" in Washington. Who will win the coming battle between reformers and revanchists?— Massimo Calabresi

Examples of revanchist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Of particular interest to Beijing will be how quickly and decisively European powers have moved to sever economic ties to a revanchist Russia. — Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 May 2022 But many Europeans are no longer interested in being sensitive to a figure like Putin or tolerating his revanchist resentments and neo-imperial ambitions. — Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2022 That commitment has been welcomed by allied nations, which want Germany to rearm and help counter a revanchist Russia — a stunning historical reversal. — Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2022 Putting a significant part of your energy-supply system in the hands of an aggressive, revanchist state like Russia is to offer a potent geopolitical lever. — Jordan Mcgillis, National Review, 10 Mar. 2022 While never producing evidence for his claim, Putin cited his need to defend them — underpinned by his revanchist view that much of Ukraine exists on territory that is historically Russia’s. — Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2022 Instead of being forced to reckon with the ashes of empire, a revanchist dictator has throttled Russia’s politics, and turned his sights on now carving his neighbors. — Casey Michel, The New Republic, 22 Feb. 2022 As at its end, a European country — then Yugoslavia, now Ukraine — is being torn apart by a revanchist dictator. — Noah Millman, The Week, 3 Mar. 2022 Meanwhile, Republican leaders strained to articulate an alternative policy to counter Russia’s revanchist campaign - at once insisting on more severe measures and opposing the deployment of U.S. forces, which Biden has said is not an option. — Anchorage Daily News, 25 Feb. 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The revanchist canon this produces can be reactionary in its own way. — Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 25 July 2022 Putin also openly stated his revanchist, imperialist goals, declaring that Ukraine was not a real country and making the ahistorical suggestion that it should be subsumed back into mother Russia. — Alexander Smith, NBC News, 29 June 2022 President Vladimir Putin compared himself to Peter the Great, the emperor who led Russia’s 18th-century territorial expansion, in a speech that underscored his revanchist ambitions. — María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post, 10 June 2022 Alarmed by the danger posed by a revanchist Russia, Finland is now ready to join the Atlantic Alliance. — The Editors, National Review, 13 May 2022 On March 2, the Monitor described how the invasion is dividing Europe between NATO on one side and a revanchist Moscow on the other. — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Mar. 2022 The treaty led to an embittered and revanchist Germany and dissatisfied victors in Italy and Japan. — Dan Mclaughlin, National Review, 16 Mar. 2022 Liberal democracy now faces a fearsome challenge, not just from a revanchist Russia but from a rising, authoritarian super power in China. — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022 He has been widely characterized as a revanchist who seeks to restore the Soviet or czarist empires. — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Feb. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'revanchist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.