abolitionist

American  

[ab-uh-lish-uh-nist] / ˌæb əˈlɪʃ ə nɪst /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• proabolitionist noun

Etymology

Origin of abolitionist

First recorded in 1830–40; abolition + -ist

Example Sentences

What about critics who say the self-described police abolitionist should work closer with law enforcement to clean up the park, I told her.

From Los Angeles Times

“Nobody reads them anymore, not since that abolitionist Abe Lincoln lost the Senate contest.”

From Literature

Introverted, romantic and intellectual, she read everything from Walter Scott and Jane Austen to abolitionist tracts and records of Senate debates.

From The Wall Street Journal

KCK also became a major stop on the underground railroad, escaped slaves gaining freedom the instant they crossed the river into Kansas, an abolitionist state.

From The Wall Street Journal

During the abolitionist movement and the war itself, the North Star became a practical element of enslaved African-Americans’ looking to the heavens, a beacon of freedom and hope.

From The Wall Street Journal