Arabist
noun
Ar·ab·ist
ˈer-ə-bist 
ˈa-rə-
1
: a specialist in the Arabic language or in Arabic culture
2
: a person who favors Arab interests and positions in international affairs
Examples of Arabist in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Darke is an Arabist who has written extensively on Middle Eastern culture, and her foray into this particular study was sparked by a cryptic zigzag pattern decorating a wall of her own courtyard house in Damascus.
—
David Conrads, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Jan. 2025
This demonstration of strength did not change any official minds, however, and the Arabist camp continued to see the United States’ commitment to Israel as a strategic liability—a sentimental luxury that interfered with serious policy.
—Michael Scott Doran, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2019
Almost every political and cultural movement in the Arab world has engaged with al-Andalus in some fashion, and Calderwood’s book is a tangle of case studies: Arabists, the Berber identity movement, feminists, Palestinians, contemporary musicians.
—Robyn Creswell, The New York Review of Books, 7 Oct. 2021
The son of a famed Arabist, Kim Philby was radicalized at Cambridge University, worked with the communist underground in Vienna and married an Austrian operative in 1934 before being recruited by the Soviet secret service.
—Harvey Klehr, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2021
As Simon himself notes, those most wrong in their judgments that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria would quickly fall in the face of a disorganized and highly fragmented insurgency included some of the State Department’s most seasoned Arabists.
—Andrew Exum, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2023
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David Conrads, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Jan. 2025
This demonstration of strength did not change any official minds, however, and the Arabist camp continued to see the United States’ commitment to Israel as a strategic liability—a sentimental luxury that interfered with serious policy.
—Michael Scott Doran, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2019
Almost every political and cultural movement in the Arab world has engaged with al-Andalus in some fashion, and Calderwood’s book is a tangle of case studies: Arabists, the Berber identity movement, feminists, Palestinians, contemporary musicians.
—Robyn Creswell, The New York Review of Books, 7 Oct. 2021
The son of a famed Arabist, Kim Philby was radicalized at Cambridge University, worked with the communist underground in Vienna and married an Austrian operative in 1934 before being recruited by the Soviet secret service.
—Harvey Klehr, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2021
As Simon himself notes, those most wrong in their judgments that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria would quickly fall in the face of a disorganized and highly fragmented insurgency included some of the State Department’s most seasoned Arabists.
—Andrew Exum, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Arabist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Arabist. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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