anarchist

[an-er-kist]

noun

1. a person who advocates or believes in anarchy or anarchism.

2. a person who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed.

3. a person who promotes disorder or excites revolt against any established rule, law, or custom.

anarchist

/ ˈænəkɪst /

noun

1. a person who advocates the abolition of government and a social system based on voluntary cooperation

2. a person who causes disorder or upheaval

Other Word Forms

• anarchistic adjective
• nonanarchistic adjective
• pseudoanarchistic adjective
• semianarchist noun
• semianarchistic adjective
• unanarchistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of anarchist¹

First recorded in 1670–80; anarch(y) + -ist

Example Sentences

The chairman of the West Bank Settler Council this week issued a statement supporting the Israeli army in arresting the "anarchists" who harmed soldiers and civilians.

Read more on BBC

Gen. Avi Bluth, who heads the Israeli military command that oversees the West Bank, said the attacks by what he called “anarchist fringe youth” were unacceptable and extremely serious.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

During the Spanish Civil War, Catalan anarchists set fire to the crypt, destroying plans and plaster models created by Gaudí that would guide future construction.

Read more on BBC

A self-styled anarchist website in Portland, Ore., encouraged supporters to use high-powered laser pointers to bring down federal helicopters in the area.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Socialists, anarchists, pacifists and other perceived radicals were also under tremendous stress from the aforementioned government campaign of persecution and censorship, including the infamous Espionage Act.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• agitator 
• anarch 
• revolutionary