secessionist
Americannoun
adjective
Other Word Forms
- secessionism noun
Etymology
Origin of secessionist
Explanation
A secessionist is someone who wants to break away from a larger group. People who make plans to split from their government and form a new country are secessionists. Secessionist comes from secede, "formally withdraw from," and its Latin roots, which mean "go apart." A secessionist wants to make a break, almost always from their country. The Civil War was a fight between the Union and a coalition of 11 secessionist states that supported slavery. These states split off from the rest of the country after Abraham Lincoln was elected on an anti-slavery platform.
Vocabulary lists containing secessionist
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 1
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Lincoln's Spymaster
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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.
The prospect is already alarming some of Iran’s neighbors who worry that events could morph into secessionist movements that might cause problems for them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
He then formed the STC, grouping secessionist factions.
From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026
Such efforts eventually pushed the high representative to take action and annul the secessionist legislation.
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2025
Pablo Simón, political science professor at Carlos III University in Madrid, said that the secessionist movement was in a period of uncertain transition.
From Seattle Times • May 9, 2024
The “secesh” community—those Southern secessionist sympathizers living a secret life in the nation’s capital—is in disarray.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
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.
