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re·vanch·ist
rə-ˈväⁿ-shist 
: 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
Michael BurleighWilson 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
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
C. R. Whittaker
plural revanchists
: 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
Tony JudtLater 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
Massimo Calabresi
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebRobert Silverman, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2023
Three decades later, Ukrainians still continue to fight for independence from a revanchist Moscow.
—Casey Michel, The New Republic, 16 Dec. 2022
Thousands of miles away, officials from another country facing up to a revanchist neighbor are taking notes.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2022
Preoccupations like these have fuelled a revanchist current in education, which has taken many forms.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2022
Kristi Raik, director of the International Center for Defense and Security’s Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, said Western policy toward Russia since 2007 ignored clear signs of Russia’s revanchist imperialism and autocratic path.
—Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2022
The opposition figure’s few comments on the Ukrainian region came in the swirl surrounding Russia’s initial 2014 invasion, when Putin first launched his revanchist project in Ukraine.
—Casey Michel, The New Republic, 4 Oct. 2022
Instead, Putin is on his own revanchist journey of restoring Russia’s empire.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2022
As for French cinema, Daney writes incisively about the revanchist politics of nineteen-seventies France and the resulting decadence of French cinema.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022
Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2023
It is invaded by a revanchist Russia, led by a former KGB colonel.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 14 Sep. 2022
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
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Adjective
Yes, some of the truly revanchist ideas that pervaded in football have faded, but chalking these developments up entirely to enlightenment is a comforting delusion.
—Robert Silverman, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2023
Three decades later, Ukrainians still continue to fight for independence from a revanchist Moscow.
—Casey Michel, The New Republic, 16 Dec. 2022
Thousands of miles away, officials from another country facing up to a revanchist neighbor are taking notes.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2022
Preoccupations like these have fuelled a revanchist current in education, which has taken many forms.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2022
Kristi Raik, director of the International Center for Defense and Security’s Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, said Western policy toward Russia since 2007 ignored clear signs of Russia’s revanchist imperialism and autocratic path.
—Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2022
The opposition figure’s few comments on the Ukrainian region came in the swirl surrounding Russia’s initial 2014 invasion, when Putin first launched his revanchist project in Ukraine.
—Casey Michel, The New Republic, 4 Oct. 2022
Instead, Putin is on his own revanchist journey of restoring Russia’s empire.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2022
As for French cinema, Daney writes incisively about the revanchist politics of nineteen-seventies France and the resulting decadence of French cinema.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022
Noun
For the revanchist right, the plight of American men is existential.
—Idrees Kahloon, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2023
It is invaded by a revanchist Russia, led by a former KGB colonel.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 14 Sep. 2022
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
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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.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near revanchist
Cite this Entry
“Revanchist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revanchist. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
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