fellow traveler

American  

noun

1. a person who supports or sympathizes with a political party, especially the Communist Party, but is not an enrolled member.

2. anyone who, although not a member, supports or sympathizes with some organization, movement, or the like.

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fellow traveler Cultural  

1. One who supports the aims or philosophies of a political group without joining it. A “fellow traveler” is usually one who sympathizes with communist doctrines but is not a member of the Communist party. The term was used disparagingly in the 1950s to describe people accused of being communists.

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Other Word Forms

• fellow-traveling adjective

Etymology

Origin of fellow traveler

1605–15, for literal sense

Example Sentences

You will reach your destination feeling more kindly to your fellow travelers, which can only improve any trip.

From Los Angeles Times

This last comment came from a fellow traveler, ruefully disclosing an act of self-defense many years ago.

From Los Angeles Times

And you confide more because you know your fellow travelers—the friend who had to struggle with professional disappointments she now understands are final, or with personal ones that cannot be changed.

From The Wall Street Journal

The satellite was called Sputnik, which means “fellow traveler.”

From Literature

Ramsay has found a fellow traveler in Jennifer Lawrence, who, these days post-“Causeway,” is reinventing herself in a focused, fearless register.

From Los Angeles Times