Meaning of martinet | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A strict disciplinarian.
2. A martin; a swift.
3. Anyone who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of discipline, or to forms and fixed methods or rules.
   figuratively
4. A short whip with multiple lashes once used in France.
   historical

Equivalents

Examples

“Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile⟳ ; he could not tell⟳ what this prisoner might do.”

“The same Aubrey deLint I'd dismissed for years as a 2-D martinet knelt gurneyside to squeeze⟳ my restrained hand and say⟳ ‘Just hang⟳ in there, Buckaroo,’ […]”

“In Seattle, he was replaced by a martinet from Annapolis, a man so vain and incompetent, so impatient with advice from experienced sailors and sure of his own⟳ right way, that, when the Hull set⟳ sail⟳ for the South Pacific, twenty men went AWOL, certain that to ship with this man was a death sentence.”

“Before I met Mr. Bowen Cooke I had been given to understand⟳ that he was of a reserved nature, and on occasion could be a "bit of a martinet"; [...].”

CEFR level