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I want to describe someone who fanatically follows one of the following:

  • Governmental body
  • Political party
  • Country

Basically, someone who will agree with their government/party/country regardless of what actions/decisions they make.

I was thinking of words such as zealot, follower, etc..

The word most similar to what I want is slang: sheep.

example in a sentence:

Elise constantly agrees with anything the liberal party says and does without having any personal opinions; she is but a sheep.

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  • It does not seem very easy. With a negative connotation: brainwashed people / sheeps, robots, slaves, victims, members of the control system ? Although you may seem to be after to a word also implying some active involvement, rather than mere passivity.
    – Pam
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 12:20
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    Pam, that should be sheep not sheeps dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sheep?q=sheep
    – Tristan r
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 12:25
  • The nearest I can get is with the slogans 'My country/party, right or wrong'. This gets across the illogicality/mental indolence/hypocrisy often involved. Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 14:59
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    "The imaginary perfect citizen"
    – user8356
    Commented Jul 25, 2014 at 18:10
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    Despite the popular perception of sheep as a slang form, Sheeple is in fact a valid term that the public can easily relate to while having a civil discussion. Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 4:21

15 Answers 15

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While not a noun, the term knee-jerk is often applied to the category descriptor to demonstrate blind allegiance

(Of a person) responding in an automatic and unthinking way: knee-jerk radicals

[ODO]

Possibly partisan

a person who takes the part of or strongly supports one side, party, or person; often, specif., an unreasoning, emotional adherent

[Collins]

The term chauvinist is also used to indicate fierce commitment to a cause or point of view

A person displaying excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for a particular cause, group, or gender: what a male chauvinist that man is

[ODO]

When coupled with an aggressive, often militaristic stand, the term jingoist may be used

Extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.

[ODO]

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    Chauvinist, from what I've read, holds very specific definitions relating to gender and patriotism only (not a government party). However, partisan looks to be exactly the word I'm looking for.
    – Othya
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 12:27
  • compliant, con-formal, orthodox.
    – Narasimham
    Commented Jan 6, 2016 at 17:18
  • Sorry, Bib. I suggest you will never be able to explain how any of those examples usefully bears on the Question. Part of the problem is your belief that the term 'knee-jerk' is applied to 'the category descriptor to demonstrate blind allegiance…' which for me depends more on guesswork than English. I suggest you've fallen for the far-too-=common failing og (Of a person) responding in an automatic and unthinking way: knee-jerk radicals Commented Sep 23 at 22:09
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Sheeple is an interesting portmanteau that is a widely accepted term. An equivalent synonym/doctrine is "conformist."

[Sheeple] is used to describe those who voluntarily acquiesce to a suggestion without critical analysis or research. Wikipedia

It often portrays criticism in the tendency of crowd thinking and hive mindset. Here is a neat (perhaps very satirical) comic from xkcd to consider:

waking the sheeple! XKCD #1013

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I think you have already answered in your question by yourself, - 'a blind follower.

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A Yes-man :

a person who agrees with everything that is said ; especially : one who endorses or supports without criticism every opinion or proposal of an associate or superior.

Extract from http://www.lemauricien.com/article/political-fiction-yes-man

Elected in the same constituency as the Leader, the Yes Man is an expert in menial work. He started by carrying posters for a former banished young stud of the same faction. Despite being relegated to the sidelines, this has-been has managed to feed off the generosity of the party by aligning himself with another fervent patriot and organising PR coups where he gets to promote himself more than the real talents. However, let us not wander too far from our luminary presence.

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    Sounds kind of odd calling 'Elise' a yes-man, though
    – Othya
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 12:23
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If such a person is actually part of the state, then they're a functionary or (more strongly) apparatchik. Allegorically, they are a drone or myrmidon, both words with connotations of insect colonies.

Otherwise they would be a zealot, true believer, or partisan who had drunk the Kool-Aid (referring to the use of poisoned Kool-Aid (Flavor-Ade) in the Jonestown cult mass suicide / murder).

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Sheep. Just like that animal that moves wherever its herder takes it, no questions asked.

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Ideologue is probably the word your looking for, since your specifically looking for a word that describes blind allegiance to ideological or political forces.

  • an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology

Partisan also is a pretty good word for what your describing itself. Typically its used now by politicians or media organization to slander each-other though, so its true meaning has become muted over the years due to over use.

  • a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person especially : one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance political partisans who see only one side of the problem

Sycophant is also a pretty good word to describe people like that if they have something to personally gain or lose.

  • A person who attempts to gain advantage by flattering influential people or behaving in a servile manner.
  • A tale-bearer or informer in general.
  • A parasite; a mean flatterer; especially, a flatterer of tyrants and great men.

It also has a connotation of someone who is slanderer, accuser, calumniator, etc.

There are also words like: Fanatic, and Zealot

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  • +1 for 'ideologue'. 'Partisan' has already been opted in the accepted answer. 'Sycophant' is used in a completely different way, because it is about pretense, I think.
    – Joachim
    Commented Nov 12, 2021 at 19:48
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While it deals specifically with Communism, Apparatchik seems to qualify.

  1. Member of the communist party.
  2. Unquestioningly loyal subordinate.
  3. Sometimes an administrative position.
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Conformist was always my favorite term for it.

a person who behaves in accordance with prevailing standards or customs and typically dislikes or avoids unconventional behavior https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conformist

It objectively describes those that comply for the sake of following, not unlike the poster's religious and governmental examples, but without espousing conviction or zealotry.

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  • Hi Daniel, welcome to our site! This question has an accepted answer and at least 6 other good answers, so we expect late answers to meet a high standard. I think "conformist" is an answer, but it's low quality: too short, and given as personal opinion. At EL&U we seek authoritative answers supported by evidence. I urge you to edit your post to explain why "conformist" fits the given context, preferably backed up by a dictionary definition (but be sure to cite your source, ideally with a hyperlink). Commented Sep 18 at 9:12
  • It's worth noting that Stack Exchange sites like this one are quite different from other Q&A sites. I recommend you take the EL&U Tour to get a better sense of how we work (and you get a bronze badge for doing so!), and perhaps read How to Answer. I look forward to seeing more contributions from you. :-) Commented Sep 18 at 9:15
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I would call such persons 'the immature'. For 'errare humanum est' (evb. makes mistakes), and 'individualism' does count but we must not neglect the opposite (community; a man is 'zoon politokon' - a man shall be tolerant but watchful activist, too).

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Would 'assimilate' (as in conform) be an appropriate synonym for what you're trying to say? Assimilating culture, policies, the 'new agenda'...

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Servile

  1. having or showing an excessive willingness to serve or please others. "he bowed his head in a servile manner" synonyms: obsequious, sycophantic, excessively deferential, subservient, fawning, toadying, ingratiating, unctuous, oily, oleaginous, greasy, grovelling, cringing, toadyish, slavish, abject, craven, humble, Uriah Heepish, self-abasing; More antonyms: bossy, assertive
  2. of or characteristic of a slave or slaves.
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    Please attribute your answer if you're citing from somewhere.
    – JJJ
    Commented Jul 7, 2019 at 1:57
  • There is nothing in the example to suggest servility.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 17:45
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Fanatical minion would be the only term I could come up with to describe blind followers of a political or religious dogma. Sorry that it is actually two words. This is totally different from a minion fanatic which is someone obsessed with characters from the movie "Despicable me"

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    Hi, Boo. This eight-year-old question with an accepted answer is for a single word. Welcome to the site and please take the tour.
    – Davo
    Commented Oct 26, 2022 at 16:34
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A "statist" is an advocate of statism, which is, in turn, the allowance of control into the "the hands of a highly centralized government, often extending to government ownership of industry." Contrast with "anarchist."

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    You need to reread the OP's example.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 17:46
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It sounds like you are looking for a pejorative to describe a single member of a group, who blindly follow. Lemming is sometimes used for this purpose.

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    You need to link to or give a reasonably authoritative example/source...
    – Greybeard
    Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 17:44

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