conformist

American  

[kuhn-fawr-mist] / kənˈfɔr mɪst /

noun

• conformists
  plural

1. a person who conforms, especially unquestioningly, to the usual practices or standards of a group, society, etc.

2. (often initial capital letter) a person who conforms to the usages of an established church, especially the Church of England.

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adjective

1. of or characterized by conforming, especially in action or appearance.

conformist British  

/ kənˈfɔːmɪst /

noun

1. a person who adopts the attitudes, behaviour, dress, etc of the group to which he belongs

2. a person who complies with the practices of an established church, esp the Church of England

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adjective

1. of a conforming nature or character

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anticonformist
  noun
• conformism
  noun
• hyperconformist
  noun
• semiconformist
  noun
• superconformist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conformists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of conformist

First recorded in 1625–35; conform + -ist

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Explanation

A conformist is a person who follows traditional standards of conduct. If you're a conformist, it's unlikely you'll join a revolution to overthrow your government; instead you'll argue that it's best to keep things the way they are. Conformist comes from the Old French word conformer, which means "to agree to, make or be similar, be agreeable." People sometimes use the term conformist in a negative way, as an insult implying that someone doesn't have the brains or the guts to question the status quo. Conformist can also be used as an adjective to describe something that follows convention and established customs. A conformist school board, for example, would follow the usual time-tested curriculum.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conformist conformists

But if, like me, you think today’s media is somehow unprecedentedly conformist, consider 2022’s “City of Newsmen: Public Lies and Professional Secrets in Cold War Washington” by Kathryn J. McGarr.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

In the 1960s, political scientist Richard Hofstadter wrote that America had periodically been swept by waves of conformist anti-intellectualism:

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025

For starkly conformist Brazil, Irwin’s sense of unconstrained freedom may help clarify just what enraged those destructive observers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024

"Attending a concert is a mix of bragging rights, being a conformist and being part of the scene," he says.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024

Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who tried to tell everyone else what was proper.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

"The process is inherently driven by appreciators pulling the conformists upward, but not the other way around," says Dr. Snitkovsky.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026

First, second and third class travel was provided for conformists, and another section with the same classes for non-conformists.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2023

SoftBank was founded by Masayoshi Son, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, who is known as a defiant visionary in a Japanese corporate world dominated by tradition-bound conformists.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

When one is modern or ahead of their time, inevitably one provokes or creates scandals because society insists that we conform or be conformists.

From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2022

I go to school with a bunch of conformists.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

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