pacifist

[ pas-uh-fist ]

noun

1. a person who believes in pacifism or is opposed to war or to violence of any kind.
2. a person whose personal belief in pacifism causes them to refuse being drafted into military service. Compare conscientious objector.

adjective

1. pacifistic.

ˈpacifist

/ ˈpæsɪfɪst /

noun

1. a person who supports pacifism
2. a person who refuses military service

adjective

1. advocating, relating to, or characterized by pacifism

Other Words From

• anti·paci·fist noun adjective
• non·paci·fist noun
• pro·paci·fist noun adjective
• semi·paci·fist adjective noun
• un·paci·fist adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pacifist¹

From the French word pacifiste, dating back to 1905–10. See pacific, -ist

Example Sentences

Abe’s push to amend Japan’s pacifist constitution to give Japan a more assertive military role in East Asia provoked controversy both at home and abroad, particularly in China.

From Time

Her early introduction to pacifist politics was expanded when Scott attended the liberal Antioch College in 1946, where she again encountered Rustin.

From Washington Post

Nurtured by interracial pacifist communities such as the Fellowship House and the Highlander Folk School, King was always a radical.

From Washington Post

Having experienced the horrors of war firsthand, he was also a vocal pacifist, and strongly opposed the war in Vietnam.

From Nautilus

Ossé attended his first protest after Floyd’s death and has since founded the Gen Z activist group “Warriors in the Garden,” using pacifist principles to reject police violence and call for reform.

From Ozy

And the ones protesting the loudest may be the war-mongering men forced into pacifist celibacy.

From The Daily Beast

He had a weakness for fine clothes and good-looking women, and he certainly was no pacifist.

From The Daily Beast

I am a proud Israeli and a religiously observant Jew and a functional pacifist.

From The Daily Beast

A veteran hawk, Prime Minister Abe wants to strengthen Japan, even review its pacifist constitution.

From The Daily Beast

In their decision they wrote that there was some chance I was a pacifist after all.

From The Daily Beast

He's a great lecturer, but he's a pacifist—the only one on the faculty—and a friend of Dora's.

From Project Gutenberg

What would my pacifist friend do if he saw a maniac attacking his children with a hatchet?

From Project Gutenberg

I remember discussing the matter with a pacifist friend of mine, an out-and-out religious non-resistant.

From Project Gutenberg

We have seen both pacifist and militarist crowds setting forth their manifestoes in terms of New Testament teaching.

From Project Gutenberg

Liberal, radical and pacifist opponents of the war rallied around it as the last great hope of civilization.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• peacemaker