as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas
felt like a Colonel Blimp when it came to how his grandchildren communicated with each other
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Recent Examples of Colonel Blimp
In Zac’s report, Schoonmaker addressed Powell’s legendary filmmaking partnership with Emeric Pressburger, which spawned films such as The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and Black Narcissus.
—
Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
Powell is perhaps best known for his creative partnership with Emeric Pressburger, which produced some of the most brilliant British films of the 20th century, including The Life of Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948).
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2025
Released in the thick of World War II, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp serves as a kind of origin story for the character but also, and above all, as a defense of his place in history and in shaping the national character.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
Powell is perhaps best known for his creative partnership with Emeric Pressburger, which produced some of the most brilliant British films of the 20th century, including The Life of Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948).
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2025
Released in the thick of World War II, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp serves as a kind of origin story for the character but also, and above all, as a defense of his place in history and in shaping the national character.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Colonel Blimp
Noun
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The claims first appeared on social media last month but have become more prominent on X and Instagram in recent days, where they’ve often been embraced by conservatives.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In recent years unhappy conservatives in eastern Oregon have spoken of splitting from their Democratic state and becoming a part of Republican Idaho.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The play, like the movie, is loosely based on a robbery that took place in 1972, on a boiling-hot August day, when an eccentric, deep-in-debt Vietnam veteran named John Wojtowicz entered a Chase bank in Brooklyn with a gun and two accomplices, hoping for a quick score.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Tickets are $15, general admission; and $10 for veterans, students, seniors, and PWD.—
Christina Mayo,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Perhaps the most intriguing fossils are the ones that potentially represent deuterostomes, the animal group that includes vertebrates, as well as starfish and sea urchins.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2026
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Completely fossil-fuel-free, Kilchoan is the number one customer of Knoydart Renewables, and has built a new water borehole and provided equipment and modern sewage-treatment plants for the area.—
Jen Murphy,
Robb Report,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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With his piano-pounding performances, wild vocals, bouffant hair and makeup, Little Richard burst onto the musical scene in the 1950s and shook up the stuffed shirts with a string of his hit songs that got both black and white people dancing.—
NBC News,
NBC News,
9 May 2020
-
Karen Knorr’s photos of the private members’ clubs of London in the early 1980s are full of stuffed shirts wearing gleaming brogues.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
25 Feb. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Colonel Blimp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Colonel%20Blimp. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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