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secessionist

secessionist

9 8.5
A person who wants their region to leave a country
  • noun
  • /sɪˈsɛʃənɪst/
translation icon : secesionista
  • The secessionist group held a rally to advocate for independence from the state.
  • secessionist movement
  • secessionist republics
  • secessionist sentiment

Examples

  • Gorbachev's failure to defuse the Lithuanian secessionist movement long before the republic declared independence remains unexplained.

    Academic text (1990)
  • At no moment did he accept even the idea of making concessions to the secessionists.

    Academic text (1992)
  • To the secessionists, I say only this.

  • Nevertheless, most analysts were not able to predict the rise of secessionist sentiment.

    Academic text (1992)
  • In line with this idea, cultural preservation is sometimes cited as one of the legitimate grounds for secessionist projects.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Both liberals and conservatives, for different reasons, have been critical of the way India has dealt with secessionist movements.

    Academic text (2001)
  • India has failed in its nation-building endeavor as secessionist movements in some parts continue to dog the country.

    Academic text (2002)
  • There's no coordination between the secessionists.

  • Once the insurgents dropped their secessionist demands, the Indian state proved more than willing to address their grievances.

    Academic text (1997)
  • In the Civil War, both abolitionists and secessionists were driven by religious fervor.

    Blog text (19)

Synonyms

separatist
vssecessionist
102 6.8

A person who wants part of a country to become independent

supports leaving for political reasons regardless of group basis
secesh
vssecessionist
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who supported the Southern states that left the United States in the American Civil War

is a formal advocate for the region leaving a political entity
separationist
vssecessionist
1 8.2

A person who wants part of a country to leave and become independent

focuses on political withdrawal from a nation or state rather than other bodies
independista
vssecessionist
8.1

Supporting separation from a country to form a new state

supports withdrawal of a region from an existing nation or state

Antonyms

19 4.1

A person who belongs to a group of workers that talks with employers

How Committed

insurgent
  • Literature
93 8.6
secessionist
9 8.5
advocate
282 4.1
supporter
817 1.0
sympathizer
1 4.3
bystander
84 3.4

Surface Forms

secessionist singular
secessionists plural

Morphology

secessionist = secession (transparent) = secession + ist

The suffix '-ist' straightforwardly forms an agent noun from 'secession', indicating a person who supports or practices secession.

Etymology

Secessionist comes from Latin parts se- 'apart' and cedere 'to go', and is like the verb secede, which means 'to leave' a country or group. So a secessionist is someone who wants their region to leave and become a separate country.