feminist

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noun

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

He [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

feminist

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adjective

: 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

[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

Examples of feminist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And Songs of Siren connects very deeply with modern feminists who suffered the male gaze and transformed it into a source of strength. —Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025

Organized by Black Feminist Future, the three-day national convening, which started on June 5th and runs through June 7th is expected to be the largest Black feminist gathering in the U.S., drawing more than 500 attendees. —Oumou Fofana, Essence, 6 June 2025

Adjective

Wednesday, July 2 Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print (HBO/Max): The three-part documentary film takes a closer look at Ms., the magazine that revolutionized the feminist movement beginning with its first issue in 1972. —Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 30 June 2025

Notable among these are The Noise of Time, a biopic about Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich to be directed by Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa and Anne Fontaine’s movie exploring the relationship between feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 30 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1887, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1852, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing feminist

• anti-feminist
• pre-feminist
• trans exclusionary radical feminist