Acronym

1. Republican in name only. Typically used by conservative members of the U.S. Republican Party to describe less conservative Republicans.
   • 1994 September, Raphael J. Sonenshein, Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles, page 303, Princeton University Press

     Irritated that Riordan’s key aides are Democrats, some Republican party activists sported RINO (Republican In Name Only) buttons at a Riordan speech (Los Angeles Times, 16 May 1994).

   • 1998 October 28, Eric Chomko, “George W. Bush: Our Next President”, alt.president.clinton, Usenet

     And Bush is a RINO - Republican In Name Only. Even my dad, a lifelong Democrat, says that Bush (this one) is much more moderate...

   • 2005 September, Brannon Howse, One Nation Under Man?: The Worldview War Between Christians and the Secular Left, page 61, Broadman & Holman Publishing Group

     Among Republicans, there are the RINOs—Republican In Name Only.

     A RINO does not apply convictions based upon a biblical worldview to public policy.