revolutionist
Americannoun
-
revolutionists
plural
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of revolutionist
First recorded in 1700–10; revolution + -ist
Explanation
Whether you’re overthrowing a government or protesting an unjust law, you could be called a revolutionist, someone who works for political or social change. A revolutionist is someone who wants to change the world — not just sitting around talking about it, but actually doing something to bring about change. Like its synonyms revolutionary and radical, a revolutionist is someone who questions authority, maybe by taking part in a demonstration to protest a government policy or by otherwise pointing out thing that he or she believes is wrong with society — then acting to try to fix it.
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:
Justifying the strategy to an Oregon newspaper, McAfee said in 2005, “I am a revolutionist in this, and I won’t overlook any loophole that will get the milk out there.”
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"The role of the revolutionist is simple," Dominick writes.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2019
Here, I’m out there being a revolutionist for everybody else.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 23, 2019
I am not a revolutionist, but I do hold the deaths of every soldier as they fought for the freedoms in the constitution dear. globalgamble JJ_Bronco It sounds like you are doing the same thing.
From Time ● Dec. 21, 2012
Berlioz, a half mad Frenchman; Richard Wagner, a crazy revolutionist, a fugitive from Saxony; and the Hungarian Liszt, half French, wholly diabolic—of such were the uncanny ingredients of the new music.
From Franz Liszt by James Huneker
Soon after independence was won, the founding fathers began conspiring against their fellow revolutionists among the hoi polloi.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2020
Around and about Soho at the time could be found dissidents and revolutionists from half the countries of Europe — Louis Blanc, Karl Marx, Giuseppe Mazzini, Lajos Kossuth and Alexander Herzen.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2018
Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and ‘I Have A Dream’ speeches?
From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2018
The TNC refuses the allegations aiming to associate al-Qaeda with the revolutionists in #Libya.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2011
Who ever heard of angry revolutionists swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily-pad park pools, with gospels and guitars and “I Have A Dream” speeches?
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
