abolitionist

1 of 2

noun

ab·​o·​li·​tion·​ist ˌa-bə-ˈli-shə-nist 

plural abolitionists

: a person who wants to stop or abolish slavery : an advocate of abolition

Before going to England I had had no proper conception of the deep interest displayed by the abolitionists of England in the cause of freedom, nor did I realize the amount of substantial help given by them.

—Booker T. Washington

On the spectrum of abhorrent business practices, buying and selling humans, especially children, remains the gold standard. Yet modern abolitionists say it happens all the time.

—Belinda Luscombe

While with him at an antislavery convention in London, which shocked her by barring women as delegates, she found her ideal model in another delegate, Lucretia Mott, the noted Quaker abolitionist and feminist.

—Milton Rugoff

abolitionist

2 of 2

adjective

: of, relating to, or supporting abolitionists or abolitionism : advocating the end of slavery

abolitionist writings

… the virulence of public reaction to antislavery activity in the East appears to have been a reason for the deployment of abolitionist resources and energies into the Middle West.

—Marilynne Robinson

… he was genuinely concerned with the poor, and an aggressive supporter of abolitionist causes and women's education.

—Jesse Sheidlower

Examples of abolitionist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Born enslaved in Maryland, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped to the North and emerged as the nation’s leading abolitionist and major literary political figure of his time. — Melia Patria, ABC News, 4 July 2026

Lincoln was responding to a wave of mob violence in the 1830s, including lynchings such as the murder of the abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026

Adjective

The lyrics describe the sorrows of a family separated by slavery, and Frederick Douglass praised the song for awakening abolitionist sentiments. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026

In this period, partisan editors, both Democratic and Whig-Republican, considered the abolitionist press to be too radical, too fanatical, and too politically naive, and argued that abolitionism was a disease that would deepen the nation’s sectional divide and make civil war all but inevitable. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1791, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for abolitionist

• exhibitionist
• prohibitionist
• nutritionist

Kids Definition

abolitionist

noun

ab·​o·​li·​tion·​ist

ab-ə-ˈlish-(ə-)nəst

: a person who is in favor of abolishing especially slavery

abolitionism

-ˈlish-ə-ˌniz-əm

noun