pacifist

[pas-uh-fist]

noun

1. a person who believes in pacifism or is opposed to war or to violence of any kind.

2. a person whose personal belief in pacifism causes them to refuse being drafted into military service.

adjective

1. pacifistic.

ˈpacifist

/ ˈpæsɪfɪst /

noun

1. a person who supports pacifism

2. a person who refuses military service

adjective

1. advocating, relating to, or characterized by pacifism

Other Word Forms

• antipacifist noun
• nonpacifist noun
• propacifist noun
• semipacifist adjective
• unpacifist adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pacifist¹

From the French word pacifiste, dating back to 1905–10. See pacific, -ist

Example Sentences

As a lifelong pacifist, Senesh was hardly an obvious choice as a freedom fighter.

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And since the somewhat pacifist Komeito Party refused to serve under her in a coalition government, she’s been able to bring a hawkish smaller party into the governing coalition.

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Under Japan’s largely pacifist constitution, the nation would be permitted to mobilize its defense forces to defend Japan with military force if it faced such a severe threat.

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William Lloyd Garrison had been both an abolitionist and a pacifist.

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He called the first Gulf War “unjust” and, as the pacifist director of the Catholic Peace Coalition, led a fast against the war’s glorification.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• peacemaker