suffragette

American  

[suhf-ruh-jet] / ˌsʌf rəˈdʒɛt /

noun

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

• suffragettism noun

Etymology

Origin of suffragette

First recorded in 1900–05; suffrage + -ette

Compare meaning

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

• suffragist vs. suffragette

Example Sentences

His written submissions to the court added: "The suffragettes would have been liable to proscription if the Terrorism Act 2000 regime had been in force at the turn of the 20th century."

From BBC

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

And from Susan B. Anthony to Victoria Woodhull, Lepore depicts the suffragettes who marched for decades, often in tension with Black feminists, before they won the franchise.

From Los Angeles Times

She has visited women's refuges, challenged the taboos surrounding domestic abuse and at a reception for International Women's Day held up stones that in 1914 been thrown by suffragettes to break windows in Buckingham Palace.

From BBC

However she had also been drawn to the suffragette movement at a young age.

From BBC