Doctrinaire is an adjective that means seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations. It is also a noun that refers to a person with doctrinaire behavior.

In Latin, the word doctrina (doak TREE na) means ‘learning.’ This later evolved into the English word doctrine, referring to a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party or other group. You could think of doctrinaire as describing someone who is holding firmly to doctrine.

Maybe we shouldn’t be so doctrinaire when establishing the rules of our group. We want to be flexible, after all, and that often means drifting away from doctrine.