🧐 Witty or critical 🗽 Support for freedom 🤔 A supporter of reason

Voltairean

9.5

A person who supports reason, free thought, and religious tolerance

noun
/voʊlˈtɛr.i.ən/

Formal

: volteriano

His anti-clerical views linked him with the Voltaireans.

Examples

Many of the attendees at the conference were proud Voltaireans, advocating for reason and tolerance in society.
She considered herself a Voltairean, often emphasizing the importance of free thought and critical questioning of traditions.
As a Voltairean, he championed the idea that reason should guide our beliefs, rather than superstition or dogma.

Synonyms

Voltairian

vsVoltairean

Formal

9.9

A person who follows Voltaire's ideas of doubt, sharp wit, and free speech

favours reason and tolerance instead of actively opposing religious authority

How Voltairean

freethinker

5 7.1

Voltairean

Formal

9.5

skeptic

77 4.1

traditionalist

6 6.5

Surface Forms

Voltairean singular

Voltaireans plural

Morphology

Voltairean = Voltaire (semi-transparent) = Voltaire + an

The connection to Voltaire is clear, but the noun meaning 'a supporter of his ideas' is a conventional extension of the adjectival form rather than a fully predictable composition.

Etymology

Voltairean comes from the name Voltaire, and as a noun it means a person who follows his ideas of 'reason' and 'tolerance'. So a Voltairean is someone who values free speech and questions superstition.