Jeffersonian

American  

[jef-er-soh-nee-uhn] / ˌdʒɛf ərˈsoʊ ni ən /

adjective

1. pertaining to or advocating the political principles and doctrines of Thomas Thomas Jefferson, especially those stressing minimum control by the central government, the inalienable rights of the individual, and the superiority of an agrarian economy and rural society.

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noun

1. a supporter of Thomas Jefferson or Jeffersonianism.

Other Word Forms

• Jeffersonianism
  noun
• anti-Jeffersonian
  adjective
• pro-Jeffersonian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Jeffersonian

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800; Jefferson + -ian

Compare meaning

How does jeffersonian compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Hamiltonian vs. Jeffersonian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Jeffersonian

Industrialization posed the question, the author writes, of whether, as the historian James Truslow Adams put it, “a Jeffersonian democracy could survive in a Hamiltonian economy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

From the Jeffersonian perspective, it was anathema to argue that government mail should not move to honor religious sensibilities, so they lost that battle.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024

Federalists, typified by Manhattanite Alexander Hamilton, desired a restless, churning urban nation and opposed the Jeffersonian vision of a republic of rural yeomen.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2023

“You can actually be Jeffersonian and have a career: Go serve your city, go serve your state, go serve your country and then go back to private life,” Caruso said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2022

In the Jeffersonian version of the story, Adams and Jefferson fought shoulder-to-shoulder against the Tories, served together in Europe as a dynamic team, then returned to serve again in the new national government.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis