antiestablishment

adjective an·ti·es·tab·lish·ment \ ˌan-tē-i-ˈsta-blish-mənt , ˌan-tī- \

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

Definition of antiestablishment

: opposed or hostile to the social, economic, and political principles of a ruling class (as of a nation) : opposed to the establishment

The first is the effect of the antiestablishment protests of the 1960s and early 1970s in making people aware of the potential of mass action.
—Daniel Nelson

Recent Examples of antiestablishment from the Web

Tensions flared between European capitals last week when Italy’s new antiestablishment government refused to take in a boat of migrants stranded in the Mediterranean.

— andrea thomas, WSJ, "Merkel and Macron Unite on Europe’s Future," 19 June 2018
His antiestablishment message has galvanized youth voters upset over corruption and income inequality.

— christine armario and joshua goodman, BostonGlobe.com, "Conservative tops Colombia presidential vote but runoff needed," 28 May 2018
On Monday, as the two antiestablishment parties protested his decision, Mr. Mattarella picked an International Monetary Fund veteran, Carlo Cottarelli, as prime minister-designate...

— tory newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: Trump risks repeating Bush controversy with ZTE deal," 29 May 2018
The re-emergence of political risk in Italy thanks to the formation of an antiestablishment government risks resurrecting bad memories of the eurozone crisis, when contagion spread across the continent.

— richard barley, WSJ, "Italian Bonds: Out in the Cold," 18 May 2018
In Italy, however, antiestablishment groups are poised to take power on their own for the first time in one of the EU’s major countries.

— marcus walker, WSJ, "Italy Shakes Europe’s Establishment as Political Upstarts Form Pact to Govern," 13 May 2018
Such an antiestablishment government could spook international investors and is opposed by parts of Italy’s business community.

— giovanni legorano, WSJ, "Bickering Could Leave Italy Without a Government For Months," 23 Mar. 2018
That divide could be the decisive factor in whether two large antiestablishment parties—the 5 Star Movement and the League—manage to strike a deal to form a government, a prospect that has come to look more likely in recent weeks.

— eric sylvers, WSJ, "Italy Seeks New Government Across Deepening North-South Divide," 3 Apr. 2018
As many observers noted, Sanders’s aggressive, antiestablishment campaign against Clinton was much like Brown’s against her husband, in 1992.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "Inside California’s War on Trump," 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antiestablishment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.