ideologue
Meaning
A person who follows a particular ideology very strictly and tries to make other people do the same, without considering practical problems.
Structure
Usage
He was dismissed as a dogmatic ideologue unwilling to compromise.
The policy was crafted by pragmatists, not by party ideologues.
She criticized the candidate for being an out-of-touch ideologue.
Etymology
The word 'ideologue' is a modern construction built from classical Greek components. It combines idea, meaning a form or mental pattern, with logos, signifying discourse or reasoning. The term was coined in the early 19th century, originally in French as idéologue, to label a member of a French philosophical school that sought to derive all knowledge from sensory experience. Over time, its meaning shifted from a neutral descriptor of a theorist to a more critical term for a rigid adherent of an ideology, emphasizing a person who speaks for or is devoted to a system of ideas, often with a disregard for practical realities.
Analysis
- ideo: From Greek idea (form, pattern, notion). In this word, it functions as the root meaning "idea" or "ideology". - logue: From Greek logos (word, speech, discourse). In this word, it functions as an agent suffix meaning "one who speaks about or is an expert in".