denialist

1 of 2

noun

de·​ni·​al·​ist di-ˈnī(-ə)l-ist 

dē-

plural denialists

: a person who denies the existence, truth, or validity of something despite proof or strong evidence that it is real, true, or valid : someone who practices denialism

For those of us who prefer to remain based in reality, the denialists represent a conundrum. Plenty of them are intelligent and educated—yet they just will not accept scientific findings as true.

—Dan Hurley

"Scientists tell them inconvenient things," said Jerry Taylor, president of the Niskanen Center, a centrist research organization, and former climate change denialist who now advocates for the acceptance of climate science.

—Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer

The AIDS denialists use pseudoscience and non-peer-reviewed Internet postings to bolster their false claims …

—John Moore and Nicoli Nattrass

denialist

2 of 2

adjective

: or, relating to, or characteristic of denialism or denialists

the denialist movement

denialist views/claims

Denialist officials and commentators who throw up their hands and say "I'm not a scientist" are being disingenuous.

—Eugene Robinson

Examples of denialist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

First, John Sabal, a prominent QAnon promoter and election denialist, dismissed Haley’s victory as nothing more than Democrat meddling. —David Gilbert, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024

Today, some climate experts cited by the CCDH agree that climate denialists are shifting their strategies and hoping to delay climate policy or promote inactivism by spreading misinformation targeting climate solutions instead of denying climate science that's generally hard to dispute today. —Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 16 Jan. 2024

Human error being blown up by election denialists, by social media. —William Turton, WIRED, 20 Dec. 2023

There are other factors at play, beyond loathing of regulation, with men disproportionately in the ranks of denialists. —David Robert Grimes, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2023

These denialists claim that Jewish people are inventing or exaggerating a genocide to promote Jewish interests. —Ellen Friedrichs, Parents, 14 Oct. 2023

Moore draws a lesson from the eventual defeat of HIV denialists. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2023

Threatening to unseat incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan, Bolduc is an election denialist who has repeatedly—and bizarrely—falsely claimed children are using litter boxes in schools. —Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 2 Nov. 2022

And this month ProPublica reported on an IRS whistleblower complaint alleging that leaders of 2020 election denialist nonprofit True the Vote had used donations for personal gain. —Craig Silverman, ProPublica, 10 July 2023

Adjective

President Mbeki, as head of state, opened the conference and, to the horror of much of the audience, reiterated his denialist view. —Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2023

If my prediction holds water, then similar approaches might be implemented with climate change skeptics and other denialist movements. —The Intersection, Discover Magazine, 6 May 2011

Word History

Etymology

Noun

denial + -ist entry 1

Adjective

denial + -ist entry 2

First Known Use

Noun

1903, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1903, in the meaning defined above