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

Example Sentences

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

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.

From The Wall Street Journal