politicante

Italian

Etymology

politica (“politics”) +‎ -ante

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /po.li.tiˈkan.te/
• Rhymes: -ante
• Hyphenation: po‧li‧ti‧càn‧te

Noun

politicante m or f (plural politicanti)

1. (politics, derogatory) politician whose behavior is characterized by self-interest, personal ambition, bias, and unscrupulousness; one who politicks
   • 2013, F. Scott Fitzgerald, translated by Ferruccio Russo, Il Grande Gatsby, Edizioni Scientifiche e Artistiche, page 35:

     La mente anormale è molto sensibile verso questa peculiarità e vi si aggrappa non appena la scorge in una persona ordinaria cosicché all'università fui ingiustamente accusato di essere un politicante poiché conoscevo i segreti disperati di uomini pazzi e sconosciuti.

     The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men.

     (literally, “The abnormal mind is very sensible to this peculiarity and clings on to it just when it perceives it in an ordinary person, so that at university I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I knew the disparate secrets of crazy and unknown men.”)

Related terms

• politico