abolitionist

American  

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

noun

abolitionists plural

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

Derived Forms

• proabolitionist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• abolitionists
  plural

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

The bill became the second abolitionist proposal to pass through a committee this spring before time ran out to pass it this session.

From Slate • Jun. 2, 2026

Nearby, is a large poster, with text penned by famed slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass, that was carried in a 1863 parade during the Civil War that calls "Men of Color, To Arms! To Arms!"

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

His mother, who introduced him at age 5 to Walden Pond, was an abolitionist who ran a station on the Underground Railroad, for which he would act as a conductor.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

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 • Dec. 18, 2025

“I couldn’t let them say such things. They called him an abolitionist, too. Said he hides runaway slaves in his own house.”

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan