Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One who loves, supports, and defends one's country.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A person who loves his country, and zealously supports and defends it and its interests.
- Patriotic; devoted to the welfare of one's country: as, patriot zeal.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who loves his country, and zealously supports its authority and interests.
- adjective Becoming to a patriot; patriotic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A person who
loves and zealouslysupports anddefends his or hercountry . - noun archaic A fellow countryman, a
compatriot .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun one who loves and defends his or her country
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"Loyalty oaths" are a foolish vestige of another time and who but TeaKlux morons that overuse and abuse the term "patriot" would even THINK of signing one ??
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com WBEZ 2012
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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.
Paul Casts a Larger Shadow (Convention) - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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Not only is he labelled a patriot, which is actually a larger compliment than just being "patriotic".
Breaking: McCain Campaign "Concedes" That Obama Is Patriotic 2009
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To equate Tim McVeigh as a patriot is the mark of a sick and disturbed mind.
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The word patriot comes from the diligence and awareness of a citizenry that once existed in the US, days long forgotten.
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"The word patriot is too precious to allow it to be used by the thundering rhetoric of politicians that patriotism requires not only supporting the troops but also supporting the foreign policy that puts them at risk."
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There were arguments about the memorial and the proper definition of the word "patriot."
NYT > Home Page By DAVID BROOKS 2011
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Of course the word "patriot" is a subjective characterization and most politicians use it as code for someone who shares their beliefs.
NPR Topics: News 2011
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"I'm what you call a patriot," said Matondi, a retired Army colonel.
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To those that jump on that bandwagon, I would remind you that a true patriot is someone who has the presence of mind to question the actions of his own country.
Logophile77 commented on the word patriot
Also, the people who were in support of the U.S. becoming separate from Britain were called the patriots. Those who wanted the U.S. to remain British colonies were called loyalists.
January 10, 2018