Thermidorian

UK/ˌθɜːmɪˈdɔːɹɪ.ən/US/ˌθɝməˈdɔɹi.ən/

Thermidorian noun: someone who took part in, or supported, the overthrow of Robespierre on the 9th Thermidor (27 July) 1794.

Noun

Thermidorian (plural Thermidorians)

Someone who took part in, or supported, the overthrow of Robespierre on the 9th Thermidor (27 July) 1794.
- By then, the Thermidorians’ sights were already trained on a further target, namely, ‘the Four’, as they became known: Billaud-Varenne, Collot d'Herbois and Barère from the old CPS and Vadier from the CGS.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 501

Thermidorian (comparative more Thermidorian, superlative most Thermidorian)

Pertaining to such people (in French history).
- The Thermidorian spirit of revenge focused particularly on the most extreme – and most unrepentant – former Terrorists within the Convention.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 501
Designating a relatively moderate reaction to a revolution.
- It is against the background of these Thermidorian tendencies in the Soviet Union that we have to view the so-called ‘Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution’ in China.1974, W.F. Wertheim, Evolution and Revolution

From Thermidor + -ian, after French thermidorien.

What does Thermidorian mean?: Thermidorian means someone who took part in, or supported, the overthrow of Robespierre on the 9th Thermidor (27 July) 1794.
What part of speech is Thermidorian?: Thermidorian can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce Thermidorian?: Thermidorian is pronounced /ˌθɜːmɪˈdɔːɹɪ.ən/ (UK).
What is the plural of Thermidorian?: The plural of Thermidorian is Thermidorians.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Thermidorian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “Thermidorian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thermidorian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.