Vocabulary 2

Doctrinaire (noun)

Pronunciation: [däk′tri ner′]

Definition: A person who dogmatically seeks to apply theories regardless of the practical problems involved.

Usage 1: Yet for all their differences both views reflect the same doctrinaire approach to the question of the role of markets.

Usage 2: This decision is not doctrinaire but pragmatic best value.

Usage 3: "The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers." - Carroll Quigley


Etymology: French from doctrine.