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dissenter

[dih-sen-ter]
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noun
  1. a person who dissents, as from an established church, political party, or majority opinion.
  2. (sometimes initial capital letter) an English Protestant who dissents from the Church of England.
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Origin of dissenter

First recorded in 1630–40; dissent + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

skeptic, protester, separatist, heretic, rebel, nonconformist, objector

Examples from the Web for dissenter

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Persecution of a dissenter is always popular in the group which he has abandoned.

    Folkways

    William Graham Sumner

  • The dissenter, who declined to pay church-rates, was an unsocial person.

    The Toilers of the Field

    Richard Jefferies

  • I am a dissenter, and do not wish my boy to subscribe to the school mission.'

    The Longest Journey

    E. M. Forster

  • His mother's a Dissenter, it is true, but the principles of that boy is beautiful.

    The Perpetual Curate

    Mrs [Margaret] Oliphant

  • You may be very thankful, in that respect, that you are not a dissenter.

    Phoebe, Junior

    Mrs [Margaret] Oliphant

British Dictionary definitions for dissenter

Dissenter

noun
  1. Christianity, mainly British a Nonconformist or a person who refuses to conform to the established church
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dissenter

n.

1630s, in 17c. especially of religions (with a capital D- from 1670s); agent noun from dissent.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper