feminist
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of feminist
First recorded in 1850–55 (probably in the current sense, but possibly in the sense “feminine, womanly”); from Latin fēmina “woman” + -ist ( def. )
Explanation
A feminist is someone who supports equal rights for women. If your brother objects strongly to women being paid less than men for doing the same job, he's probably a feminist. If you believe that women should have the same political, social, and economic rights as men, you are a feminist. It has absolutely nothing to do with putting down men or boys in order to elevate the status of women. The word feminist comes from feminism, which originally meant simply "being feminine," or "being a woman," but gained the meaning "advocacy of women's rights" in the late 1800s.
Vocabulary lists containing feminist
When Fake is Real: Young People Rebel Against Instagram, Via Instagram
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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Chapter 29: The Civil Rights Era
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A hotbed of feminist rebellion, its corset-shattering, myth-busting history encompasses a journey of emancipation, imagination, and healthy disdain for patriarchal expectations.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Bess Wohl’s “Liberation,” this year’s most decorated play, reanimates the history of the 1970s feminist movement by questioning what it could be leaving out of the picture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Crucially, as Wilcox and Stone see it, both faith-based and feminist ideologies can push dads toward greater involvement, turning conservative-religious and liberal fathers into mirror images.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
She said she believed in being a feminist through her actions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
The same month Sojourner Truth made her speech, a history-making feminist friendship was forged between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Burke, 33, herself became internet famous when she started posting TikToks about the tradwife movement, a subculture that has ignited feminists and earned praise from religious conservatives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Except, of course, feminists have also pushed for policies that make this possible for women, such as affordable daycare, while also calling on men to do their fair share at home.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
It is true that people — not just women — are marrying later than they used to, but that’s not because of being bullied by feminists into it.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
The accessory is brandished by some feminists as "a sign of the advancement of women's rights and then their visibility in the public space", said fashion historian Marine Chaleroux.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
One of the most famous—or infamous—of these New Departure feminists was Victoria Claflin Woodhull.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
