feminist

1 of 2

noun

fem·​i·​nist ˈfe-mə-nist 

plural feminists

: a person who supports or engages in feminism

Similarly, Saint Thomas's resident nun, Sister Maureen (Ann Dowd), is no girlish cutie: She's an ardent, in-your-face feminist.

—Terrence Rafferty

He [Stendhal] was a feminist and … he held that to deprive women of education 'deprives society of half its potential for intellectual achievement'.

—V. S. Pritchett

feminist

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adjective

: of, relating to, supporting, or compatible with feminism

feminist theory

the feminist movement

The act of speaking is a way women come to power, telling our stories, sharing history, engaging in feminist discussion.

—bell hooks

[Patricia] Ireland, past president of the National Organization for Women, is perhaps the best-known former Pan Am flight attendant of the '60s; seven years working for the airline helped inspire her feminist activism, which included campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment.

—Sarah Rose

Examples of feminist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Wohl welds together her memories of her mother and her own interviews with second-wave feminists into a time-hopping, soul-searching portrait of their movement, its achievements and failures, and its legacy. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2025

Second-wave feminists advocated for women’s right to lead lives extending beyond the home. —Lauren Hilgers, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025

Adjective

In response to these laws, as well as feminist pressure, most newsrooms by the 1980s moved toward a default rule of not naming victims. —Stephanie A, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025

Coup d’états, in which the usurpers are almost always men, don’t often get a reading by feminist scholars. —Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1887, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1852, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing feminist

• anti-feminist
• pre-feminist
• trans exclusionary radical feminist