royalist
Americannoun
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a supporter or adherent of a king or royal government, especially in times of rebellion or civil war.
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(initial capital letter) a Cavalier adherent of Charles I of England.
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a loyalist in the American Revolution; Tory.
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(initial capital letter) an adherent of the house of Bourbon in France.
adjective
noun
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a supporter of a monarch or monarchy, esp a supporter of the Stuarts during the English Civil War
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informal an extreme reactionary or conservative
an economic royalist
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antiroyalismnoun
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antiroyalistnoun
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nonroyalistnoun
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royalismnoun
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ultraroyalistnoun
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royalisticadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of royalist
Vocabulary lists containing royalist
The French Revolution
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 2
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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.
See Examples For:
Some royalist leaders, including Lord Capel, removed their hats before execution as a calculated appeal to the crowd.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
He was executed the following year, and the war ground on for another decade until Agustín de Iturbide, a royalist colonel, switched allegiances and led the rebel factions to independence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
The royalist faction in England were essentially moderates, who believed in religious liberty, wanted global trade and founded the Royal Society to advance science.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2025
Both of her parents are British, and she said that while her daughter had told her it was not “cool” to be a royalist, she had a fondness for the House of Windsor.
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
He despised those American colonials who had fought against his England, yet he still chose to settle in Philadelphia, where he set up a royalist newspaper called The Porcupine's Gazette.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
After losing power, royalists also used it to signal resistance.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
The royalists would fight on until late 1824.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The sudden loss of power left the young crown prince and his family stateless, reliant on a dwindling circle of royalists and well-wishers in exile.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
The year-long funeral ceremony of Thailand's former Queen Sirikit started Sunday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her remains to lie in state at Bangkok's Grand Palace.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2025
Julian was uninvolved in Isrami politics despite his fondness for the princess and his sympathy—on principle—with royalists instead of revolutionaries.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
