activist

American  

[ak-tuh-vist] / ˈæk tə vɪst /

noun

• activists
  plural

1. an especially active, vigorous advocate of a cause, especially a political cause.

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adjective

1. of or relating to activism or activists.

   an activist organization for environmental concern.

2. advocating or opposing a cause or issue vigorously, especially a political cause.

   Activist opponents of the president picketed the White House.

Usage

What does activist mean? An activist is a person who engages in activism—the practice of taking direct action to achieve political or social goals. An activist may support a particular cause (or range of causes) or oppose it. In any case, an activist tries to achieve such goals through direct (and continued) actions, such as protests, lawsuits, lobbying, petitions, and strikes. The word activist implies that the person takes such actions consistently—that they are consistently active in these pursuits. For example, protesting is a form of activism, but someone who attends one protest probably wouldn’t be called an activist (unless they continue to take such actions). The word activist is often preceded by a word referring to the kind of cause the activist is involved in, as in political activist or animal rights activist. It can also be used as an adjective to describe such people or their activities, as in activist lawyer or activist organization. Example: The prominent activist is known for organizing this summer’s mass protests.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonactivist
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• activists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of activist

First recorded in 1905–10; active + -ist

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Explanation

An activist is a person who campaigns for some kind of social change. When you participate in a march protesting the closing of a neighborhood library, you're an activist. Someone who's actively involved in a protest or a political or social cause can be called an activist. Demonstrations, strikes, and sit-ins are all ways that an activist might work toward the change she believes in. The root word of activist is the Latin actus, "a doing, a driving force, or an impulse." Someone who acts on what she believes is an activist.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

activist activists

He cites Black cultural figures like the queen of salsa Celia Cruz, American fashion journalist André Leon Talley, the late French singer and dancer Josephine Baker and political activist Assata Shakur as guiding lights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Hanaa Edwar, another prominent women's rights activist, says she saw Mohammed just two days before she was killed.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Last month, activist investor Jana Partners urged the company to explore a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

And in New Zealand, the government changed the law to block a lawsuit brought by Maori activist Mike Smith against six domestic companies, but he has vowed to continue the fight.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Whitney Young was named for a civil rights activist and had been opened in 1975 as a positive-minded alternative to busing.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

While activists and heroes usually get most of the public’s attention, queer historian and author Timothy Stewart-Winter argues that it’s just as important to focus on the more complicated figures.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

The main demonstration outside parliament by thousands of university students and staff, trade unionists and opposition activists remained peaceful.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

On Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, N.Y., activists vandalized a building and hundreds of students demanded more transparency in a series of protests and town-halls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Elsewhere in the city, thousands of protesters still turned up, including activists and senior lawyers who were all detained.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Recounted in numberless articles and books, the Maya collapse has become an ecological parable for green activists; along with Pleistocene overkill, it is a favorite cautionary tale about surpassing the limits of Nature.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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Related Words

• combatant
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