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