A person who believes their own country, group, or gender is superior to all others, often in an extreme and unreasonable way.
From French 'chauvinisme,' named after Nicolas Chauvin, a French soldier famous for his exaggerated patriotism during the Napoleonic Wars. The term evolved in the 19th century to describe anyone with blind, aggressive loyalty to a group.
Nicolas Chauvin was probably just a regular soldier, but his legend grew so much that his name became a word meaning 'obsessively loyal'—one person's reputation literally became a dictionary entry!
From Nicolas Chauvin; means excessive nationalism but became synonymous with male chauvinism (gender-based superiority). Conflation reflects how patriarchal bias became 'unmarked' in language.
Use precisely: 'nationalist' for political excess, 'sexist' or 'misogynist' for gender-based supremacy. Don't let gendered form obscure the actual harm.
["nationalist","sexist","misogynist"]
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