anti-vax

adjective

an·​ti-vax

ˌan-tē-ˈvaks,

ˌan-ˌtī- 

variants or less commonly antivax

: anti-vaccination

Aggressive anti-vax campaigns claiming that vaccines are unsafe and can lead to autism—a theory long disproven—drive much of the vaccine hesitancy worldwide.

—Lily Hyde

The governor, who works hard to straddle the line between being antivax and merely being the friend of the anti-vaxxers, didn't mention the word "vaccine" in his address …

—News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida)

Examples of anti-vax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But Joe’s campaign is all anti-masks, anti-vax, with the threat of cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler) also posing a challenge to his political and personal life. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 May 2025

Not anti-vax enough Now that Means has been tapped to become surgeon general, such suspicions have led to a very public rift in Kennedy’s world. —Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 15 May 2025

But if the recent past is any guide, what many dismiss as bad-faith rhetoric can quickly harden into a core ideology for a set of true believers; the anti-vax movement and the subsequent measles outbreaks are a sobering analog. —Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025

There seems to be a limit to how anti-vax is too anti-vax in the Trump administration. —Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for anti-vax

• almanacs
• carrybacks
• haversacks
• lumberjacks
• maniacs
• microcracks
• minimax
• paperbacks
• parallax
• quarterbacks
• sticklebacks
• telefax