RINO

See also: rino, Rino, riño, riñó, rino-, and rɨño

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “history”)

Pronunciation

• Homophone: rhino

Noun

RINO (plural RINOs)

1. (US politics, derogatory) Acronym of Republican in name only. Typically used by conservative members of the U.S. Republican Party to describe liberal Republicans or Republicans seen as liberals.
   • 1994 September, Raphael J. Sonenshein, Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles, Princeton University Press, page 303:

     Irritated that Riordan’s key aides are Democrats, some Republican party activists sported RINO (Republican In Name Only) buttons at a Riordan speech (Los Angeles Times, 16 May 1994).

   • 1998 October 28, Eric Chomko, “George W. Bush: Our Next President”, in alt.president.clinton (Usenet):

     And Bush is a RINO - Republican In Name Only. Even my dad, a lifelong Democrat, says that Bush (this one) is much more moderate […]

   • 2005 September, Brannon Howse, One Nation Under Man?: The Worldview War Between Christians and the Secular Left, Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, page 61:

     Among Republicans, there are the RINOs—Republican In Name Only. A RINO does not apply convictions based upon a biblical worldview to public policy.

   • [2020 November 18, Richard Fausset, Jonathan Martin, “In Georgia, a Republican Feud With Trump at the Center”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mr. Trump called Mr. Raffensperger a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only, while continuing to make false claims about voting integrity in Georgia; along the way he tossed a few barbs at the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, Mr. Trump’s ally and sometime-scapegoat.]

Related terms

• DINO
• GINO

See also

• Rockefeller Republican
• Log-cabin Republican

Further reading

• Republican in Name Only on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Iron, Orin, Rion, inro, inrō, iron, noir, nori, roin