as in nationalist
one who shows excessive favoritism towards his or her country
a newspaper columnist who never manages to be anything other than a knee-jerk flag-waver
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Recent Examples of flag-waver
The emergence of Laufey, the Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter who has become one Gen Z’s chief flag-waver for throwback pop, is largely attributable to her abundant talent.
—
Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
For those two groups to get in not just over Carey and O’Connor, but more traditional rock and roll flag-wavers like Oasis and Lenny Kravitz, is also something of a shock.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
For those two groups to get in not just over Carey and O’Connor, but more traditional rock and roll flag-wavers like Oasis and Lenny Kravitz, is also something of a shock.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flag-waver
nationalist
Noun
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Paul, however, is not the anti-immigrant hero Christian nationalists have waited for.—
John Fugelsang
September 12,
Literary Hub,
12 Sep. 2025
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On the left were environmentalists who wanted to leave carbon in the ground; on the right, MAGA nationalists who were dismantling wind farms and carrying out mass deportations.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flag-waver.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flag-waver. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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