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Clintonian

Clintonian

1 7.8
Relating to Bill Clinton's political style, especially a focus on the economy and talks with other countries
  • adjective
  • /klɪnˈtoʊniən/
: clintoniano
  • The Clintonian view of industrial policy

Examples

  • No longer will the Democrats have to engage in Clintonian triangulation.

    Blog text (9)

  • The rest is Clintonian history.

    Academic text (2011)

  • A very Clintonian distinction, I think.

    Blog text (21)

  • I think that her Clintonian political connections, particularly Bill, may sway voters into thinking she is a more effective Democratic replacement.

    Blog text (28)

  • There are similar budget constraints and similar institutional gaps in virtually all the proposed areas of Clintonian intervention.

    Academic text (1993)

  • No one should doubt, however, that if he were re-elected, he would follow the same Clintonian strategy of triangulation.

    Blog text (7)

  • In my opinion, there has always been an almost Clintonian response to skeptics, namely, slog it out.

    Blog text (17)

  • I guess it depends on what the definition of 'is' is (shades of Clintonian obfuscation).

    Blog text (10)

  • Forget Clintonian centrism; faced with popular backlash, you just knew your wonderfulness would smooth it all over, is that right?

    Blog text (16)

  • Many voters identified the new candidate as a Clintonian figure, embracing a centrist approach to politics.

Surface Forms

Clintonian positive

Morphology

Clintonian = Clinton (transparent) = Clinton + ian

Built by adding the productive suffix '-ian' to the proper name 'Clinton'; a learner who knows Bill Clinton will infer 'relating to Bill Clinton'.

Etymology

Clintonian comes from the name Clinton plus the ending -ian, like in American, and it means 'related to' a person; here it refers to Bill Clinton and his focus on the economy and on using diplomacy. So a Clintonian policy in this sense aims for economic growth while relying on negotiation and compromise.