reformer

[ri-fawr-mer]

noun

a person devoted to bringing about reform, as in politics or society.

(initial capital letter) any of the leaders of the Reformation.

Nearby words

Origin of reformer

First recorded in 1520–30; reform + -er¹

Related formsan·ti·re·form·er, nouncoun·ter·re·form·er, noun

re-form

[ree-fawrm]

verb (used with or without object)

to form again.

Origin of re-form

1300–50; Middle English; orig. identical with reform

Related formsre-for·ma·tion, nounre-form·er, noun

Can be confusedre-form reform

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for reformers

Reformers understood that constructive societal evolution was the antidote to socialist revolution.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR|John Avlon|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And even though the establishment has won a series of contests, the ranks of the reformers are slowly swelling.
Will Mitch McConnell Face a Senate Coup?|David Freedlander|June 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For reformers like Senator Gillibrand, though, the problem is deeper that and can only be solved by a fundamental shift in policy.
Caught Between Military and Civilian Justice, a Battered Wife Waits and Waits for Help|Jacob Siegel|April 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As bad as the assaults themselves are, they are only part of the problem targeted by reformers.
Spies, Lies, and Rape in the Air Force: An Undercover Agent's Story|Jacob Siegel|March 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Those people are virtually by definition liberals and reformers and radicals.
Conservatives on the Wrong Side of History on Mandela, Most Other Things|Michael Tomasky|December 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He belonged to that large and pestiferous tribe of reformers, who go through the world without fixed principles.
Gabriel Tolliver|Joel Chandler Harris
He has joined himself with a band of starved teachers and reformers to cut its very foundations away.
A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)|Mrs. Sutherland Orr
The cross was destroyed by the fanatical zeal of the Reformers.
The Strand District|Sir Walter Besant
We had quite a magnetic circle of reformers, too, in central New York.
Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897|Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Knox and the other reformers were Scopæ viarum—that is, highway besoms.
Anima Poet|Samuel Taylor Coleridge

British Dictionary definitions for reformers

re-form

verb

to form anew

Derived Formsre-formation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reformers

re-form

"form again," mid-14c., from re- + form (v.). Related: Re-formed; re-forming; re-formation.

reformer

1540s, agent noun from reform (v.).

reformer

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of reformer

re-form

verb (used with or without object)

Origin of re-form

Examples from the Web for reformers

re-form

verb

re-form

reformer