noun
-
a person who supports pacifism
-
a person who refuses military service
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pacifist
From the French word pacifiste, dating back to 1905–10. See pacific, -ist
Explanation
A person who opposes the use of war or violence to settle a dispute is called a pacifist. If you are a pacifist, you talk through your differences with others instead of fighting. A pacifist is a peacemaker — even its Latin origins of pax, or "peace" and facere, "to make" show it. If you are a pacifist, you avoid physical confrontations. The beliefs and actions of peacemakers can also be described as pacifist, as in someone whose pacifist beliefs lead him to take part in nonviolent protests against a war.
Vocabulary lists containing pacifist
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
I Am Malala
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Catcher in the Rye
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Nimbly, it manages to be both a pacifist film and a subversive one with no faith in the system as it stands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Miyazaki is a noted pacifist, but “Princess Mononoke” is his most humanist work.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was heckled at a World War II memorial event by protesters angry about Tokyo's further shift away from its decades-long pacifist stance, television footage showed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Today’s pacifist arguments have some echoes of the debate that followed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 1979 decision to match a Soviet military buildup in Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
In April 1921 his wife, a well-known pacifist and suffragette named Jessie Hardy Stubbs, flung herself off a bridge over the East River in New York and drowned.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Criticized by Yankee pacifists for resorting to violence, Clay replied, “how then can you ask me to go unarmed and yet manfully vindicate those doctrines which every where have been denounced with death?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
The league specifically targeted suspected German sympathizers, socialists, labor activists and pacifists.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2024
"These people are not pacifists; they have intentionally or otherwise become pawns of the aggressor," Wang wrote.
From Reuters ● Oct. 12, 2023
“So what the Amish do usually — they’re pacifists, they don’t fight anybody — they just walk away.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
What standing could such dedicated pacifists enjoy among veterans of the Revolution, who, as Jackson put it, “at the risk of their lives and fortunes, secured to the community their liberty and property?”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
