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

A firsthand account by an escaped slave who became a famous abolitionist and orator, this memoir reframed slavery as coerced labor.

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William Lloyd Garrison had been both an abolitionist and a pacifist.

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It was an act of considerable courage in an era when abolitionist speakers were frequently stoned, beaten and sometimes murdered for their beliefs.

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

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Lincoln was addressing a fractured North, not abolitionists, and he knew that striking too soon at slavery might drive the wavering border states into Confederate arms—a shift that could doom the Union cause.

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