fellow traveler

noun

1. a person who supports or sympathizes with a political party, especially the Communist Party, but is not an enrolled member.

2. anyone who, although not a member, supports or sympathizes with some organization, movement, or the like.

fellow traveler

1. One who supports the aims or philosophies of a political group without joining it. A “fellow traveler” is usually one who sympathizes with communist doctrines but is not a member of the Communist party. The term was used disparagingly in the 1950s to describe people accused of being communists.

Other Word Forms

• fellow-traveling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fellow traveler¹

1605–15, for literal sense

Example Sentences

Ramsay has found a fellow traveler in Jennifer Lawrence, who, these days post-“Causeway,” is reinventing herself in a focused, fearless register.

From Los Angeles Times

Too many of my fellow travelers back then felt that to party even for a song was to betray the revolution.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, they typically reposition themselves as the immovable axis of correct values, and denounce their former ideological fellow travelers as heretics who profaned true conservatism.

From Salon

Letterman’s fellow travelers of late-night have criticized the decision to wrap the series next May.

From Salon

The couple had just moved to the high desert from the Inland Empire, and given the considerable face tattoo count between them, they’d been looking for some witchy fellow travelers.

From Los Angeles Times