democrat
noun
dem·o·crat
ˈde-mə-ˌkrat
plural democrats
1
Democrat plural Democrats
: a member of the Democratic party of the U.S. : a member of one of the two major political parties in the U.S. that is usually associated with government regulation of business, finance, and industry, with federally funded educational and social services, with separation of church and state, with support for abortion rights, affirmative action, gun control, and policies and laws that protect and support the rights of workers and minorities, and with internationalism and multilateralism in foreign policy
Note: Democrats are associated with liberalism and/or progressivism and the political Left (see left entry 2 sense 3a).
compare republican2
old-fashioned
a
: one that favors or supports a democratic form of government (see democratic sense 2) : an adherent or advocate of democracy
It seems so easy for America to inspire and express the most expansive and humane spirit; new-born, free, healthful, strong, the land of the laborer, of the democrat, of the philanthropist, of the believer, of the saint, she should speak for the human race.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
I was as much as ever a radical and democrat for Europe, and especially for England. I thought the predominance of the aristocratic classes, the noble and the rich, in the English Constitution, an evil worth any struggle to get rid of …—John Stuart Mill
b
: one who practices or believes in social equality
The American, if intellectually an aristocrat, was still socially and subconsciously a democrat. It had never crossed his mind that the poet should be counted lucky to know the squire and not the squire to know the poet.—G. K. Chesterton
He rejoiced to call himself a democrat, and would boast that rank could have no effect on him.—Anthony Trollope
Cite this Entry
“Democrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democrat. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.
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