as in rebel
a person who thinks that a nation, state, etc., should separate from another and become independent
A growing group of secessionists are pushing for the independence of the region.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of secessionist
An Austrian secessionist painted iron center table by Thonet stands atop a circa 1900 Russian Bessarabian wool rug in the two-story entrance hall.
—
David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 20 Mar. 2025
According to researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., these secessionist movements have gained support from Russian accounts on social media.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025
The base was originally named for Lt. Gen. Henry Benning, a Confederate general and Southern secessionist who opposed freeing slaves.
—Eleanor Watson, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2025
Monuments to old secessionists and segregationists had fallen across the country.
—Charles King, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for secessionist
David Foxley, Architectural Digest, 20 Mar. 2025
According to researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., these secessionist movements have gained support from Russian accounts on social media.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025
The base was originally named for Lt. Gen. Henry Benning, a Confederate general and Southern secessionist who opposed freeing slaves.
—Eleanor Watson, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2025
Monuments to old secessionists and segregationists had fallen across the country.
—Charles King, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for secessionist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secessionist
Noun
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Iran has also for years militarily and financially supported regional militia groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, that have pressured or attacked Israel on multiple fronts.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
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Worried about Michilimackinac’s vulnerability to attacks by American rebels, the British relocated the fort to the high bluffs of Mackinac Island in 1780 and shortened its name.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
9 June 2025
Noun
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Putin annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and began supporting pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country in 2014.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
4 June 2025
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That conflict had recently escalated, with pro-Russian separatists seizing key towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk after Russia illegally annexed the peninsula of Crimea in February 2014.—
Anna Batta,
The Conversation,
2 June 2025
Noun
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Authorities have also reported sightings of ELN guerrillas, a Colombian-Venezuelan insurgent faction, operating near key Guyanese border towns.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2025
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Spain approved the deal on Oct. 3, 2023, four days before an insurgent assault led by Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a devastating war in Gaza.—
Brittany Williams,
Arkansas Online,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Secessionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secessionist. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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