A dissenter is someone who disagrees with commonly held opinions or beliefs. Except for one dissenter (your brother who dislikes amusement parks), everyone in your family is looking forward to going to Disneyland next summer. If the U.S. Supreme Court makes a decision that's supported by eight of the Justices, the one Justice who disagrees with the ruling is a dissenter. This word is also used to mean "protester," or someone who stands up and takes action against a law or policy. In the 17th century, dissenter was used for someone who disagreed with a religious belief or doctrine.
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Today, Harlan is celebrated in history as the Great Dissenter.
From Washington Post • Jan. 28, 2022
Justice Ginsburg, left behind, is being called the Great Dissenter.
From Slate • Oct. 2, 2015
Meanwhile in an interview with Firedoglake’s The Dissenter this week, the ex-CIA agent said, “I am wearing my conviction as a badge of honor”: I am proud that I stood up to our government.
From Salon • Jan. 25, 2013
September 1, 2010, Go to Blog » The Dissenter, Justice John Paul Stevens Three decades ago, he was appointed to the Supreme Court as a judicial conservative and moderate Republican.
From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2010
Apart from this, West Boxton was a hot-bed of Nonconformity, and some of the inhabitants were much exercised in their minds as to the spiritual effect upon a Dissenter of milking a church cow.
From Mrs. Bindle Some Incidents from the Domestic Life of the Bindles by Jenkins, Hebert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
