abolitionist

[ ab-uh-lish-uh-nist ]

/ ˌæb əˈlɪʃ ə nɪst /

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noun

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

a person who favors the abolition of any law or practice deemed harmful to society: the abolitionists who are opposed to capital punishment.

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should

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Origin of abolitionist

First recorded in 1830–40; abolition + -ist

OTHER WORDS FROM abolitionist

pro·ab·o·li·tion·ist, noun, adjective

Words nearby abolitionist

aboideau, aboil, abolish, abolition, abolitionism, abolitionist, abolitionize, abolla, bolt from the blue, a, abomasum, A-bomb

How to use abolitionist in a sentence

Like most abolitionists of the day — including her mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society — Child was committed to nonviolence.
A shocking 19th-century crime reveals the continued need for gender equality|Julie Miller|December 27, 2020|Washington Post
Tyler spent the last years of his life railing against Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist movement.
The 10th president’s last surviving grandson: A bridge to the nation’s complicated past|Gillian Brockell|November 29, 2020|Washington Post
A later resident was Lucy Caldwell, who held meetings of an abolitionist society in the house.
This might be Washington’s oldest house, but it came from New England|John Kelly|November 28, 2020|Washington Post
I talked to Herzing about the wave of attention that abolition has gotten in 2020 and why she says that the abolitionist imagination is far from limited.
What the public is getting right — and wrong — about police abolition|Fabiola Cineas|October 30, 2020|Vox

If you really want an abolitionist future, you need to work for an abolitionist future.
What the public is getting right — and wrong — about police abolition|Fabiola Cineas|October 30, 2020|Vox
As Brookhiser fully appreciates—he does not equivocate or run from the truth—Lincoln was no radical, no abolitionist.
Lincoln Was the Founders’ Heir Apparent|Harvey J. Kaye|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That woman, an island hero, Betto Douglas, may have been a relative of the famous American abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.
Uncovering the Secrets of St. Kitts|Debra A. Klein|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was a devout Christian, you see, and a conservative; and yet at the same time a stern abolitionist.
What Plantation Is Jim DeMint Living On?|Michael Tomasky|April 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Until the 1830s, free blacks were barred from most abolitionist societies.
How Blacks Freed Themselves from Slavery|Eric Herschthal|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Free black Americans, he insists, played the crucial role of bringing British abolitionist pressure to bear on America.
How Blacks Freed Themselves from Slavery|Eric Herschthal|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many southern states passed resolutions requesting the northern states to forbid the publication of abolitionist papers.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia|Dorothy M. Torpey
Osborne is a sneaking Yankee, an abolitionist, and the old fool can't keep his mouth shut.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
He began as a thorough, out-and-out abolitionist; during the war he was a stanch Republican, and a firm admirer of Charles Sumner.
The Bay State Monthly, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1885|Various
His success in Washington was brilliant, but he found trouble, owing to his abolitionist opinions, and had to resign.
Historic Fredericksburg|John T. Goolrick