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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Dissenters also worry that exceptions to the rules laid out in the deal will be left up to the discretion of companies who don’t have actors’ best interests in mind.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2023
Dissenters included his son, Andy Stanley, who said he wanted his father to offer to quit and let the church decide.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2023
Dissenters bombarded the book’s ratings section on the American Girl website with one-star reviews, leaving an average rating of 1.9 out of five stars as of Friday evening.
From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2022
Dissenters could “stand undisturbed as monuments to the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
Dissenters argued that true freedom and independence for Filipinos should be more important than American imperialism.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
