abolitionist

[ab-uh-lish-uh-nist]

noun

1. (especially prior to the Civil War) a person who advocated or supported the abolition of slavery in the U.S.

2. a person who favors the abolition of any law or practice deemed harmful to society.

   the abolitionists who are opposed to capital punishment.

Other Word Forms

• proabolitionist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of abolitionist¹

First recorded in 1830–40; abolition + -ist

Example Sentences

“Power concedes nothing without a demand,” she told a crowd gathered in Sproul Plaza on that October Thursday in 1964, quoting abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

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Radical abolitionist John Brown and his sons hacked five men to death with swords.

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As slavery reached the zenith of its power, abolitionists would destroy the white consensus upon which it depended.

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During the campaign, she described herself as an abolitionist — someone who supports the abolition of police and prisons.

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U.S. officials first announced in 2016 that a ship would be named for Milk, as well as for abolitionist Sojourner Truth, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, Atty.

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