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

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 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

The abolitionist wing of the Methodists circulated his pamphlets on Sunday morning and London periodicals published his arguments without rebuttal.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead