fem·i·nist
ˈfe-mə-nist 
plural feminists
: a person who supports or engages in feminism
Similarly, Saint Thomas's resident nun, Sister Maureen (Ann Dowd), is no girlish cutie: She's an ardent, in-your-face feminist.—
Terrence Rafferty
Terrence RaffertyHe [Stendhal] was a feminist and … he held that to deprive women of education 'deprives society of half its potential for intellectual achievement'.—V. S. Pritchett
V. S. Pritchett
: of, relating to, supporting, or compatible with feminism
feminist theory
the feminist movement
The act of speaking is a way women come to power, telling our stories, sharing history, engaging in feminist discussion.—bell hooks
bell hooks[Patricia] Ireland, past president of the National Organization for Women, is perhaps the best-known former Pan Am flight attendant of the '60s; seven years working for the airline helped inspire her feminist activism, which included campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment.—Sarah Rose
Sarah RoseExamples of feminist in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Prophecies, spiritual autobiographies, accounts of conversion, and so forth, are not normally understood as feminist.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
Emma Green, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The feminist theorist and scholar Tressie McMillan Cottom went even further down the rabbit hole in a Bluesky post yesterday.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for feminist
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Noun
Fourest has indeed been involved with Ukraine for over a decade, dating back to a 2011 documentary on Ukrainian feminists for France 2, a couple years before the Maidan uprising.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026
Prophecies, spiritual autobiographies, accounts of conversion, and so forth, are not normally understood as feminist.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
But nobody owns Jael, and women don’t have to fit a feminist frame to be powerful.
—Emma Green, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The feminist theorist and scholar Tressie McMillan Cottom went even further down the rabbit hole in a Bluesky post yesterday.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for feminist
Cite this Entry
“Feminist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminist. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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