A dissenter is someone who disagrees with commonly held opinions or beliefs. Except for one dissenter (your brother who dislikes amusement parks), everyone in your family is looking forward to going to Disneyland next summer. If the U.S. Supreme Court makes a decision that's supported by eight of the Justices, the one Justice who disagrees with the ruling is a dissenter. This word is also used to mean "protester," or someone who stands up and takes action against a law or policy. In the 17th century, dissenter was used for someone who disagreed with a religious belief or doctrine.
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Today, Harlan is celebrated in history as the Great Dissenter.
From Washington Post • Jan. 28, 2022
Peter S. Canellos, a managing editor at Politico, is the author of “The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero,” from which this essay is adapted.
From New York Times • Aug. 20, 2021
Justice Ginsburg, left behind, is being called the Great Dissenter.
From Slate • Oct. 2, 2015
Meanwhile in an interview with Firedoglake’s The Dissenter this week, the ex-CIA agent said, “I am wearing my conviction as a badge of honor”: I am proud that I stood up to our government.
From Salon • Jan. 25, 2013
"Then am I to understand, Mr. Maniple, that you object to bury a Dissenter?"
From Mr. Punch's Country Life by Hammerton, J. A. (John Alexander)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
