Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2023 is: doctrinaire \dahk-truh-NAIR\ adjective

Doctrinaire is a formal word that means “stubbornly or excessively devoted to a [doctrine](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrine) or theory without regard to practical considerations.” It is often used disapprovingly to describe a person who has very strong beliefs about what should be done and who will not change those beliefs or accept other people's opinions.

// They were pleased by the shift in leadership, as their old mayor was extremely doctrinaire.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrinaire)

Examples:

“[The art exhibition,] In the Black Fantastic is a magnificent experience, spectacular from first to last. ... The premise is succinct: to unite artists from the African diaspora who use fantasy, myth and fiction to address racism and injustice. [Apposite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apposite) literary quotations appear on the walls, from Frantz Fanon and others. But there is nothing theoretical or doctrinaire about the work.” — Laura Cumming, The Guardian (London), 3 July 2022

Did you know?

The noun [doctrine](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrine) refers to a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true, and is often used specifically for the principles on which a government or religion may be based. Its adjectival form, [doctrinal](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrinal) (“of, relating, or preoccupied with doctrine”), as in “doctrinal teachings,” is straightforward and not particularly judgmental. Doctrinaire, however, describes someone who is rigidly and impractically devoted to a doctrine. This critical connotation comes from the word’s history in post-revolutionary France as a name for members of a group of constitutional monarchists led by statesman and philosopher [Pierre Paul Royer-Collard](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Paul-Royer-Collard). Royer-Collard’s doctrine was opposed by both [ultraroyalists](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ultraroyalist) and revolutionists, and he was given the nickname “doctrinaire,” which was later capitalized and extended to his colleagues, thereafter known as the Doctrinaires.