Word of the Week: chauvinism (SHŌ-və-nĭz-əm) Definition (Noun) Exaggerated patriotism of a bellicose sort; blind enthusiasm for national glory or military ascendancy; the French quality which finds its parallel in British "Jingoism." In Context "The fires of antiforeign chauvinism, long fanned by the bureaucracy, were raging." Patrick Smith, Japan: A Reinterpretation, 1997.