dissident

[dis-i-duh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dissident ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who dissents.

adjective

disagreeing or dissenting, as in opinion or attitude: a ban on dissident magazines.

Origin of dissident

1525–35; < Latin dissident- (stem of dissidēns, present participle of dissidēre to sit apart), equivalent to dis- dis-¹ + -sid- (combining form of sed- repair¹) + -ent- -ent

Related formsdis·si·dent·ly, adverban·ti·dis·si·dent, noun, adjectivenon·dis·si·dent, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dissident

Contemporary Examples of dissident

But his account of a dissident plot involving Gambian expats using U.S. weapons is similar to what Faal told the FBI.
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country
Jacob Siegel
January 6, 2015
Rights activists like Boledi, the Iranian Baluch dissident living in Sweden, harbor some of the same concerns.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan
Umar Farooq
December 29, 2014
“He literally went underground to hold services,” Moscow-based dissident and journalist Victor Davidoff said in an email.
Remembering the Russian Priest Who Fought the Orthodox Church
Cathy Young
December 28, 2014
Dissident filmmakers are routinely thrown in jail, forced to flee the country, or banned from work.
Jafar Panahi: Filmmaking Ban Is My Iranian Prison
Jamsheed Akrami
July 8, 2014
Beijing's embassy in Washington could be in front of "Liu Xiaobo Plaza," an imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident.
Congress Trolls China With a Street Name
Tim Mak
June 24, 2014

Historical Examples of dissident

Anti-clericalism works for the benefit of the dissident sect.
Philosophic Nights In Paris
Remy De Gourmont
It was established by the dissident Jews who united with the Platonists.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 7 (of 10)
Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
And after tonight, I wasn't sure that I was in any better shape than a Chinese dissident.
Little Brother
Cory Doctorow
His head answers for his discretion; he is a dissident priest.
The Sword of Honor, volumes 1 & 2
Eugne Sue
Thy-doxy, if thou be Dissident, is that he cannot; but that he must become an accursed thing.
The French Revolution
Thomas Carlyle

British Dictionary definitions for dissident

dissident

adjective

disagreeing; dissenting

noun

a person who disagrees, esp one who disagrees with the government

Derived Formsdissidence, noundissidently, adverb

Word Origin for dissident

C16: from Latin dissidēre to be remote from, from dis- 1 + sedēre to sit

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 dissident

adj.

1530s, from Latin dissidentem (nominative dissidens), present participle of dissidere "to be remote; disagree, be removed from," literally "to sit apart," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + sedere "to sit" (see sedentary).

1766, in reference to Protestants, from dissident (adj.). In the political sense first used 1940, coinciding with the rise of 20c. totalitarian systems, especially with reference to the Soviet Union.