Martinet meaning

mär'tn-ĕt'
The definition of a martinet is someone who is strict and follows rules absolutely, especially in the military.

A drill sergeant is an example of a martinet in the military.

A principal who doesn't allow a student to break a single rule is an example of a martinet.

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A rigid military disciplinarian.
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One who demands absolute adherence to forms and rules.
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A very strict military disciplinarian.
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Any very strict disciplinarian or stickler for rigid regulations.
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(military) A strict disciplinarian.
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(figuratively) Anyone who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of discipline, or to forms and fixed methods or rules.
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(zoology) A martin; a swift.
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Origin of martinet

  • After Jean Martinet (died 1672), French army officer
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • After the example of 17th century French army officer Jean Martinet.
    From Wiktionary
  • From French
    From Wiktionary

Martinet Sentence Examples

  • Janeway often finds unorthodox solutions to problems; this is no Starfleet martinet.

  • Frederick, though his love of teasing for teasing's sake has been exaggerated by Macaulay, was a martinet of the first water, had a sharp though one-sided idea of justice, and had not the slightest intention of allowing Voltaire to insult or to tyrannize over his other guests and servants.

  • It was a time of government on martinet principles, under which all freedom of thought and all private initiative were as far as possible suppressed vigorously by the administration.

  • I don't know where he is, you interfering martinet.

  • The plates, which show no improvement in execution on those of Martinet, are after drawings by Huet and Pretre, the former being perhaps the less bad draughtsman of the two, for he seems to have had an idea of what a bird when alive looks like, though he was not able to give his figures any vitality, while the latter simply delineated the stiff and dishevelled specimens from museum shelves.

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Words near martinet in the Dictionary