revanchist

/ɹɪˈvæn(t)ʃɪst/

Etymology

From French revanchiste, from revanche (“revenge”) + -ist.

Why this word is great

REVANCHIST — [Adjective] Advocating or seeking revenge, especially in a political context such as reclaiming lost territory or national honor after a defeat. From French revanchiste, from revanche ("revenge") + -ist (denoting an adherent). Unlike "vengeful" (which smolders in the heart of the wronged individual) or "irredentist" (which fixates on land as birthright), revanchist is the cold calculus of nations nursing old wounds. It is the map redrawn in blood, the schoolchildren taught to recite the names of lost provinces, the aging veteran who spits at the sight of a foreign flag—the past weaponized, and the future mortgaged to its debts.

adj

Seeking revenge or otherwise advocating retaliation, especially against a nation which has previously defeated and humiliated the revanchist party in war. Originally referred to the French indignation over losing Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War.“No longer did young German tourists in France or Holland have to pretend that they were Swedes, and no longer did the governments of Eastern Europe blame all their problems on the “revanchist West Germans”.”

noun

A revanchist person; occasionally, anyone seeking vengeance.“The next day, newspapers across the political spectrum will express varying degrees of outrage at the president's discourtesy, ignorance, and lack of style; one will accuse him of being a revanchist.”