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.

---

Other Word Forms

• proabolitionist noun

Etymology

Origin of abolitionist

First recorded in 1830–40; abolition + -ist

Explanation

An abolitionist was someone who wanted to end slavery, especially in the United States before the Civil War — when owning slaves was common practice. Back when many landowners in the United States forced slaves to work their land, abolitionists believed that slavery violated the basic human right of freedom, and organized to make slavery illegal, writing anti-slavery literature, proposing new laws, and smuggling slaves into free Canada. The Latin root abolere means “destroy,” and an abolitionist is generally a person who wants to destroy any law or practice, like the abolitionists who fight to end the death penalty.

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 • Jan. 22, 2026

Which is why, despite my love of berries for birds and nectar for butterflies, I’m not a total turf abolitionist.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

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

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2025

With statements like that, Beshear certainly does not sound like a candidate for the abolitionist Hall of Fame.

From Slate • Jul. 18, 2025

While many abolitionist groups favored a gradual approach to ending slavery, the women of Birmingham read and discussed Elizabeth Heyrick’s argument that all slaves must be freed at once.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson