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

Chapek also told Katz he didn’t want to be involved in an activist fight, according to Vail’s filing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

The payment comes from Oasis Management, an activist investor targeting Vail, which put Chapek forward as one of four nominees to the board of the ski behemoth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

One such case is Leonid Melekhin, an anti-war activist who sought asylum in the US after being arrested at protests in Russia.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj said the process disproportionately burdens marginalised voters who often struggle to produce documents.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Jayme and Taylor teamed up and won the state history day contest in 2009, and took ninth place in nationals for a project on Joe Hill, a labor activist.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Police detained six activists who had draped Greenpeace protest banners from a monument on Jakarta's central Bundaran HI roundabout on Tuesday morning, before the student marches, according to Jeanny Sirait, a campaigner for the NGO.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

The activists may argue that the post was not in earnest, and that no one involved ever seriously intended to bring pills into Texas.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 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

Until the jail can be closed, activists and city officials are calling for basic repairs such as to hundreds of cell doors that are broken.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

You remember the image: a menacing, glistening heap of firearms surrounded by the mayor, the police chief, the neighborhood activists.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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Related Words

• combatant
• demonstrator
• fighter
• protester
• rioter

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