whiggish

See also: Whiggish

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Whig +‎ -ish.

Adjective

whiggish (comparative more whiggish, superlative most whiggish)

  1. (politics, historical) Characteristic of a Whig; liberal.
  2. (history, often capitalized) Characterized by a belief in inevitable progress, and tending to evaluate the past by the standards of the present; see Whig history.
    Near-synonym: presentist
    • 2012 October 3, Rebekah Higgitt, “Why whiggish won't do”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      Finally, whiggish narratives, strewn with heroes, only hinder understanding of how the world works.
    • 2015 May 15, Rebekah Higgitt, “Beware Eurosceptic versions of history and science”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN:
      Abilafia’s article is a classic example of an old-fashioned “Whiggish” narrative. It claims a uniquely moderate and progressive advance toward the development of British institutions, traced continuously from Magna Carta and isolated from the rages and radicalism of the Continent.
    • 2015 December 21, David A. Graham, “The Wrong Side of 'the Right Side of History'”, in The Atlantic‎[3]:
      Because this whiggish view depends on the expectation of progress, liberal politicians are more suspectible to it than their conservative brethren.

Derived terms

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