oppositionist

noun

Definition of oppositionistnext
as in challenger

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of oppositionist Within Russia, the oppositionists’ challenges are far greater. — Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2024 Characteristically, Navalny tried to buck up his fellow oppositionists. — The Editors, National Review, 16 Feb. 2024 Yesterday, in an effort to galvanize democratic forces, oppositionists announced the foundation of the Strategic Council of Republicans Inside Iran. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda. — Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppositionist
  1. challenger
  2. rebel
  3. insurgent
  4. resister
  5. recusant
  6. revolutionist
  7. anarchist
  8. revolutionary
Noun
  • Season 42 continues on Tuesday with Caleb Groen returning as champion to face two new challengers.
    — USA TODAY Staff, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • Minogue’s Republican primary challenger Brian Shortsleeve finished with $63,000 raised.
    — Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 7 July 2026
Definition of challenger
Noun
  • Gillespie also has a reputation for melding music to movies, as seen in Cruella, his 2021 movie that cast Disney villainess Cruella de Vil as a punk rock rebel in London’s fashion scene.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 3 July 2026
  • The winner is the daughter of the late Alberto Fujimori, the former president whose government in the 1990s defeated the Shining Path extremist rebel group but also took an authoritarian turn.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026
Definition of rebel
Noun
  • Fujimori, 51, is the daughter of late President Alberto Fujimori, who governed the country ​with an iron fist from 1990 to 2000 and was credited with defeating Maoist insurgents and taming runaway hyperinflation.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 4 July 2026
  • Syria has been without a parliament since the December 2024 offensive by insurgents led by al-Sharaa’s now defunct Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which ended the Assad family’s five-decade dynasty.
    — Ghaith Alsayed, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of insurgent
Noun
  • In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.
    — Menika Dirkson, The Conversation, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of resister
Noun
  • The uniform of the conformist — sports shirt, cardigan, tennis shoes — is as easily recognized as that of the recusant — dirty white T, sideburns, two days’ growth of beard.
    — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 15 July 2019
Definition of recusant
Noun
  • As the head of China’s Nationalist government, Chiang and his party were trying to establish control in a nation divided among revolutionists, nationalists, Indigenous warlords, and a developing communist army and government.
    — Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
  • Many revolutionists see heavy tank casualties in Ukraine as the key indicator for the tank’s looming obsolescence in the face of newly lethal precision antitank weapons.
    — Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2023
Definition of revolutionist
Noun
  • Earlier this week, Swiss anarchist-hacker Maia Arson Crimew leaked information about Dialog, the secretive, invite-only organization cofounded by right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel in 2006.
    — Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 18 June 2026
  • Trump has long invoked the term against a range of political opponents, including peaceful protesters without anarchist-leanings.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 June 2026
Definition of anarchist
Noun
  • Good luck with that message in flyover country when the revolutionaries don’t enjoy the advantages of light-turnout primaries.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Many became meeting places for the Founding Fathers and other revolutionaries as tensions with Britain grew.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of revolutionary

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Cite this Entry

“Oppositionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppositionist. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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