How to Use nationalistic in a Sentence

nationalistic

adjective
  • The nationalistic fervor that ran through the town in the early years of the war has given way to an expanding fear.
    Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 24 Dec. 2025
  • Trump sees Leo in terms of nationalistic pride and loyalty.
    Bill Barrow, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2026
  • To them, the case was clear-cut, and the Australian outrage overly nationalistic.
    Kristen Gelineau | Ap, Washington Post, 27 May 2017
  • In their view, Bush was an insular, nationalistic, chest-thumping cowboy who had turned his back on the world.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 19 Mar. 2021
  • The dark side of this can be seen in the rise of the right-wing nationalistic AfD, a party that discards the shame and guilt of the war.
    Madhvi Ramani, The Week, 2 June 2021
  • To their dismay, her father was killed in a nationalistic uprising during this time on the island.
    courant.com, 26 Nov. 2019
  • Chasing the dream, the money, the nationalistic pride had served as an invaluable carrot.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Apr. 2021
  • Since its first sighting, it has been printed onto t-shirts, posters and cars across Russia as a nationalistic pro-war emblem.
    Sophie Mellor, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2022
  • At some point Beijing wants to rein that in for fear that these nationalistic sentiments will point toward the government.
    Austin Ramzy, New York Times, 5 Aug. 2019
  • Given the current nationalistic mood in China, such a splashy reception for a foreign artist may seem odd.
    R.m.l. | Beijing, The Economist, 11 Sep. 2019
  • Iran is a deeply nationalistic society, even if the people despise the Islamist regime.
    Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 June 2025
  • Of course, that would mean Beijing swallowing its pride and reining in the recent nationalistic fervor on trade.
    Nathaniel Taplin, WSJ, 10 July 2019
  • To add nationalistic insult to injury, the head of Wardex isn’t even American.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
  • The Olympics, with their nationalistic gloss, lend themselves to symbolic readings.
    Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Now that government has collapsed, opening the door for Netanyahu to sweep back into power on a nationalistic right-wing slate.
    Tovah Lazaroff, NBC News, 22 June 2022
  • But even without the shadow of Mussolini, Meloni’s nationalistic view would be cause for alarm.
    Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2022
  • The Flag Smashers, we’re told, preferred the more chaotic, less nationalistic world of the previous five years.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2021
  • But that nationalistic message will have consequences outside Brazil’s borders, and could even shift the country’s role in the region and the world.
    Jen Kirby, Vox, 31 Oct. 2018
  • The long arm of the Chinese state does indeed pose serious threats to academic freedom, but the main risk is not from nationalistic students.
    Yangyang Cheng, The Atlantic, 23 Nov. 2021
  • Almost overnight, the team has come to embody an alternative future for a country still wracked by nationalistic politics.
    Arminka Helic, Time, 30 June 2026
  • In my experience, the Chinese students of twenty-five years ago were much more nationalistic, and much less aware, than the students of today.
    Peter Hessler, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022
  • Aside from religious and nationalistic appeals, the Basij has been kept in line through economic incentives.
    Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Even at a time of strong nationalistic sentiment and high tension with the West, many hope to immigrate to Western countries.
    Yaqiu Wang, Twin Cities, 3 Oct. 2019
  • Some of them support the prime minister’s nationalistic agenda, whereas others abhor it.
    Aluf Benn, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Modi is as nationalistic as Xi, and is no doubt irritated at the confidence and pushiness of its great eastern neighbor.
    Kerry Brown, Time, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Let countries, like El Salvador, take over; China is concerned with the success of its own nationalistic project.
    Robert Hackett, Fortune, 21 June 2021
  • Fans can also take on a nationalistic tone, even calling for China to stop sending pandas to the United States.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 26 June 2024
  • The pursuits by the US and China are in part nationalistic and political.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Many young voters in Paris still believe in the European idea, despite the rise of nationalistic, populist movements.
    Saphora Smith, NBC News, 7 May 2017
  • That case deeply divided the nation, with nationalistic politicians defending the soldier.
    NPR, 28 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nationalistic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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