loyalist
Americannoun
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a person who is loyal; a supporter of the sovereign or of the existing government, especially in time of revolt.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) a person who remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution; Tory.
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(initial capital letter) an adherent of the republic during the Spanish Civil War, opposed to Franco.
noun
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(in Northern Ireland) any of the Protestants wishing to retain Ulster's link with Britain
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(in North America) an American colonist who supported Britain during the War of American Independence
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(in Canada) short for United Empire Loyalist
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(during the Spanish Civil War) a supporter of the republican government
noun
Other Word Forms
- loyalism noun
Etymology
Origin of loyalist
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The secretary, Lurie explained, can’t attend every meeting, and so having another Kennedy loyalist in the HHS would represent an expansion of his influence over U.S. public health infrastructure.
From Salon
He is described as being a "long standing contact from the loyalist community".
From BBC
The tiny South Carolina airport’s easy parking, minimal TSA waits, short walks and employees who print her bag tags the second they see her coming have turned her into a loyalist.
That’s because it includes a spectrum of voices from across our culture – nobles and villagers, Black and Indigenous figures, women, British loyalists, philosophers and soldiers among them.
From Salon
I’m usually a loyalist to the cornmeal-swirled muffin — I love that little grainy grit, the way it reins in lush summer fruit with a bit of prairie stoicism.
From Salon
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.
