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 • Jan. 22, 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

He concludes his account with the most radical abolitionist of all, John Brown, who had little patience for the inhibitions of the Bostonians.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 9, 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

Throughout most of our nation’s history—from the days of the abolitionist movement through the Civil Rights Movement—racial justice advocacy has generally revolved around grassroots organizing and the strategic mobilization of public opinion.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander