federalist

noun

fed·​er·​al·​ist ˈfe-d(ə-)rə-list 

1

: an advocate of federalism: such as

a

often capitalized : an advocate of a federal union between the American colonies after the Revolution and of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution

b

often capitalized : world federalist

2

capitalized : a member of a major political party in the early years of the U.S. favoring a strong centralized national government

federalist adjective often capitalized

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

But a federalist system of public health becomes kind of clunky when these gaps in leadership or responsibility are exploited for political gain. —Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 24 July 2020

The beauty of the U.S. federalist system is that the 50 states can experiment and learn from one another. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022

As national issues increasingly dominate local politics, the downsides of our federalist system may be outweighing the virtues. —The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2022

Ensuring safe and reliable drinking water is fundamentally a local responsibility under the U.S. federalist system, with the state and federal government providing some oversight. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 5 Sep. 2022

Erosion of comity between the states will have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences for our federalist system of government. —Lindsay Beyerstein, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2022

Every state, in our federalist system, has perfectly constitutional laws and regulations that indirectly affect industries outside its boundaries. —Matthew Scully, National Review, 11 July 2022

Recent years have provided many prominent examples of this conservative, federalist, state-centric approach to governance in practice. —Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2022

Nevertheless, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not federalize education, which remains a state responsibility in our federalist system. —Andrew C. Mccarthy, National Review, 25 Oct. 2021

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1774, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing federalist

• world federalist
• anti-federalist

• world federalist
• anti-federalist

Kids Definition

federalist

noun

fed·​er·​al·​ist ˈfed-(ə-)rə-ləst 

1

: a supporter of federal government

especially, often capitalized : a supporter of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution

2

capitalized : a member of a major political party in the early years of the U.S. favoring a strong central national government

federalism

-ˌliz-əm

noun often capitalized

federalist adjective often capitalized