suffragette

American  

[suhf-ruh-jet] / ˌsʌf rəˈdʒɛt /

noun

• suffragettes
  plural

1. a female advocate of the right of women to vote, especially one who participated in protests in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century.

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suffragette British  

/ ˌsʌfrəˈdʒɛt /

noun

1. a female advocate of the extension of the franchise to women, esp a militant one, as in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century

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suffragette Cultural  

1. A suffragist. Today, the term suffragette is often considered demeaning.

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Usage

What is a suffragette? A suffragette refers to a woman who advocates for women’s right to vote. This term especially applies to women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the U. S. and U. K.

Gender

See -ette.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• suffragettism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suffragettes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of suffragette

First recorded in 1900–05; suffrage + -ette

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Compare meaning

How does suffragette compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• suffragist vs. suffragette

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Explanation

A suffragette was a woman who advocated for women's right to vote during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Suffragettes — also called suffragists — used various tactics, including hunger strikes, in their fight for equality. While the term suffragist includes all the activists who have fought for the right to vote, particularly for women, suffragette usually refers specifically to the activists in the US and UK. The word was coined by a "Daily Mail" journalist, who used it in a derogatory way, only to have it embraced by the activists. The tactics of the suffragettes were controversial, and sometimes included arson and property damage. American and British women gained the right to vote in the early 1900s.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suffragette suffragettes

The former Highfields School pupil explained the story also went beyond the Pankhurst family, with some people who attended the show likely to have relatives who were involved in the suffragette movement.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

To our good fortune, Guinness did play all eight, even the suffragette.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

“She wasn’t a suffragette but she really demanded that men and women treat each other as equals and as participants in an equal partnership.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

John said TV programmes and genealogy companies "drive this theory that every outcome is good, that you'll find war heroes... or a suffragette, but lots of people don't."

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2025

Born on May 6, 1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he was doted on by his mother, an accomplished pianist and suffragette.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

These campaigners were labelled "suffragettes" by the press.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

To be sure, across the British Empire, the hunger strike emerged as a shared language of democratic, anti-colonial resistance - embraced by suffragettes in Britain and nationalists in Ireland and India.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

To paraphrase the suffragettes: We may love roses, but we also need bread.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2024

When the suffragettes were fighting for the right to vote, the women were not really allowed to drive carriages.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2024

The protesters are suffragettes, out rallying for the Susan B. Anthony amendment.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

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