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

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

“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

The only full-time news reporter at the Daily Jeffersonian kept busy until recently.

From Washington Post • Aug. 28, 2022

By 1820 even Adams had stopped firing off his illumination rounds and had adopted the Jeffersonian posture of benign duplicity, preferring to risk hypocrisy rather than the friendship.

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