javert

Etymology

From Javert, a police inspector in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables.

Why this word is great

JAVERT — [Noun] One who remorselessly pursues a perceived wrongdoer. From Javert, the surname of a police inspector in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables, whose character embodies relentless pursuit of justice. Unlike a vigilante (who operates outside the law) or an arbiter (who weighs evidence with detachment), a Javert enforces order with the cold precision of a guillotine. He is the bureaucrat who audits your taxes with sacramental fervor, the detective who spends decades hunting a petty thief, or the neighbor who reports your overgrown hedge to the city with grim satisfaction—proof that the most terrifying force in the world is not chaos, but order without mercy.

noun

One who remorselessly pursues a perceived wrongdoer.“Whether by instinct, as in Boston, or by psychological testing, as in St. Louis, some police departments are waking up to the characterological hazards of the police profession. But unfortunately there are still a good many Javerts around.”