Dictionary

RINO en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Attested from December 1992.

Meanings

1. (US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, 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.
   alt of Republican in name only
   alt of typically
   • 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. [2020 November 18, Richard Fausset, Jonathan Martin, “In Georgia, a Republican Feud With Trump at the Center”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • 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). 1994 September, Raphael J. Sonenshein, Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles, Princeton University Press, page 303:
   • Among Republicans, there are the RINOs—Republican In Name Only. A RINO does not apply convictions based upon a biblical worldview to public policy. 2005 September, Brannon Howse, One Nation Under Man?: The Worldview War Between Christians and the Secular Left, Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, page 61:
   • And Bush is a RINO - Republican In Name Only. Even my dad, a lifelong Democrat, says that Bush (this one) is much more moderate […] 1998 October 28, Eric Chomko, “George W. Bush: Our Next President”, in alt.president.clinton (Usenet):

Forms

Relateds

DINO · Log-cabin Republican · Rockefeller Republican · GINO · LINO