constitutionalist

[kon-sti-too-shuh-nl-ist, -tyoo-]

noun

1. an adherent or advocate of constitutionalism or of an existing constitution.

2. an expert on a political constitution.

Other Word Forms

• anticonstitutionalist adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of constitutionalist¹

First recorded in 1760–70; constitutional + -ist

Example Sentences

In his view, the Democratic Party’s agenda and its “quiet revolution” could be stopped only by a “radical constitutionalist,” someone in the mold of Thomas Jefferson or James Madison.

Read more on Salon

Like many on the far-right here, he calls himself a constitutionalist.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The party now is not segregationist and in recent years officials told the Times that it “is a conservative, constitutionalist party.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He says all the things he believes his constituents and fellow Republicans want to hear without understanding or caring what the true definitions of terms such as “constitutionalist” mean.

Read more on Salon

“These criminal charges shield Joe Biden,” said Mike Davis, a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and president of the Article III Project, which advocates for constitutionalist judges and the rule of law.

Read more on Washington Times