reformer
[ri-fawr-mer]
- a person devoted to bringing about reform, as in politics or society.
- (initial capital letter) any of the leaders of the Reformation.
Origin of reformer
re-form
[ree-fawrm]
- to form again.
Origin of re-form
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for reformers
Contemporary Examples
Reformers understood that constructive societal evolution was the antidote to socialist revolution.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDRJohn Avlon
September 9, 2014
And even though the establishment has won a series of contests, the ranks of the reformers are slowly swelling.
For reformers like Senator Gillibrand, though, the problem is deeper that and can only be solved by a fundamental shift in policy.
Caught Between Military and Civilian Justice, a Battered Wife Waits and Waits for HelpJacob Siegel
April 21, 2014
As bad as the assaults themselves are, they are only part of the problem targeted by reformers.
Those people are virtually by definition liberals and reformers and radicals.
Conservatives on the Wrong Side of History on Mandela, Most Other ThingsMichael Tomasky
December 10, 2013
Historical Examples
"To set up as reformers would be to have the whole hive about our ears," she said.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
Ours was but the common experience of reformers in all ages.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
In the twelfth month of 1792 a convention of reformers was held at Edinburgh.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
It was not the intention of the Reformers themselves to destroy them.
English VillagesP. H. Ditchfield
Paré, however, met with the usual fate of innovators and reformers.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
re-form
- to form anew
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for reformers
re-form
reformer
n.
1540s, agent noun from reform (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper