a person who separates, withdraws, or secedes, as from an established church.
an advocate of separation, especially ecclesiastical or political separation.
A separatist is someone who believes certain groups of people should live independently from the larger group. Often religious separatists form new denominations after they break off from a church. Separatists are typically members of a minority group that wishes to protect itself or its identity from the majority group. There are political separatist movements all around the world, including Catalan separatists in Spain, who believe that Catalonia should be an independent nation, and French-Canadian separatists in Quebec.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action," said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
Separatist fighters in the country's two English-speaking regions - the North-West and the South-West - took up arms in 2017 calling for the creation of a breakaway state called Ambazonia.
From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026
They enlist Bo-Katan and Din Djarin's help in neutralizing a few repurposed Imperial and Separatist droids that have shrugged off their programming and pose a danger to its citizens.
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2023
Separatist officials have said they plan to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 18, 2022
Alice must often have seen William Bradford in the Separatist community at Leyden.
From William Bradford of Plymouth by Plumb, Albert Hale
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.
