1

nationalist

noun na·tion·al·ist \ ˈnash-nə-list , ˈna-shə-nə-list \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Examples: nationalist in a Sentence

Definition of nationalist

1 : an advocate of or believer in nationalism

2 : a member of a political party or group advocating national independence or strong national government

See nationalist defined for English-language learners

See nationalist defined for kids

Examples of nationalist in a Sentence

a staunch nationalist who favored any policy that would give the country more power in the international arena

Recent Examples of nationalist from the Web

Others called on the government to black out the scene where Chopra holds up sacred Hindu prayer beads as evidence that the plotter in the episode was an Indian nationalist.

— NBC News, "'Quantico' producers, star Priyanka Chopra apologize for episode portraying Indians as terrorists," 9 June 2018
Few European leaders have embraced the issue with the zeal of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalist who has governed since 2010 and was reelected this year.

— Time, "White Nationalists Have Capitalized on the West’s Population Problem. These Policies Could Help," 5 June 2018
Meanwhile, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a leftist nationalist known as AMLO, is leading polls ahead of the July vote.

— gerrard cowan, WSJ, "Bumpy Ride for Mexico-Focused ETF," 3 June 2018
The 87-year-old Soros has become the whipping boy for illiberal nationalists from Washington to Moscow to Budapest.

— trudy rubin, Philly.com, "Roseanne's other twisted tweet of the week. (The one you didn't already read about) | Trudy Rubin," 1 June 2018
His chief rivals are political parties with closer ties to Iran, as well as the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a staunch nationalist who campaigned against government corruption.

— Fox News, "The Latest: Iraqi cleric al-Sadr leads in early vote results," 13 May 2018
In doing so, the nationalist also displays his unfamiliarity with the full range of the civil rights activist's teachings.

— eugene scott, Washington Post, "Steve Bannon thinks Martin Luther King Jr. would be ‘proud’ of Donald Trump," 23 May 2018
Al-Sadr has distanced himself from former patron Iran, and has cultivated the image of himself as an Arab nationalist.

— NBC News, "Muqtada al-Sadr recasts himself ahead of Iraq elections," 11 May 2018
On the other side of our great divide, the Red State #MAGA voter from the Deep South has more in common with a UKIP-voting Brexiter in Leeds, or a Putin-supporting Russian nationalist, than with his metropolitan compatriots.

— antonio garcía martínez, WIRED, "How Facebook Binds, and Shatters, Communities," 11 May 2018

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

First Known Use of nationalist

1715

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

nationalist Synonyms

Synonyms

chauvinist, flag-waver, jingo;

Near Antonyms

internationalist;

Related Words

loyalist, patriot;

hawk, warmonger;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

2

nationalist

adjective

Definition of nationalist

1 : of, relating to, or advocating nationalism

2 : of, relating to, or being a political group advocating or associated with nationalism

See nationalist defined for English-language learners

Examples of nationalist in a Sentence

The country's Nationalist Party won the election.
a nationalist rant against the immigrants supposedly flooding the country

Recent Examples of nationalist from the Web

Republicans can be openly racist, nationalist, corrupt, and horny.

— drew magary, GQ, "This Is Why Trump Won," 14 June 2018
In Athens, matters are complicated by Tsipras’ junior, nationalist coalition partner rejecting the deal.

— Washington Post, "AP Explains: What the Greek-Macedonian name deal is about," 13 June 2018
Now success hinges on how voters identifying as nationalist cast their ballot, the poll found.

— benjamin harvey, Bloomberg.com, "Turkey’s Election Is Too Close to Call, Bloomberg Poll Shows," 13 June 2018
This was in 2007, before Trump’s walls or the fervent pitch of nationalist rhetoric reached its ascendance.

— malaika jabali, Glamour, "Why Anthony Bourdain’s Life Is a Lesson for White Men of Privilege on How to Be an Ally," 8 June 2018
That feels a little like the moment liberals are in right now, what with all these hot politicians stepping onto the global stage out of nowhere, some of whom may very well be nationalist hellions.

— kenzie bryant, Vanities, "Is the Hot Politician Evil?: A Parlor Game for Our Broken Era," 1 June 2018
The protectionist and economically nationalist approach leads to no solution.

— cui tiankai, Time, "Chinese Ambassador to the U.S.: How Americans Misunderstand China," 4 May 2018
The Atlantic has had some experience with a related version of this: Last month, YouTube removed a video depicting a white-nationalist rally, captured by Atlantic journalists, from its search and recommendation engine.

— robinson meyer, The Atlantic, "What Motivated the YouTube Shooter?," 4 Apr. 2018
Some media watchers worry that the national debate is getting doused by increasingly aggressive nationalist and conservative voices, including from Mr. Modi’s right-wing party.

— rajesh roy, WSJ, "India Withdraws Order to Punish Journalists Over ‘Fake News’," 3 Apr. 2018

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

First Known Use of nationalist

1884

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

nationalist Synonyms

Synonyms

nationalistic, patriotic;

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

traitorous, treasonous;

disaffected, disloyal, faithless, false, fickle, inconstant, perfidious, recreant, treacherous, unfaithful;

Related Words

jingoist, jingoistic, superpatriotic;

constant, devoted, faithful, loyal, staunch (also stanch), steadfast, steady, true;

ardent, fervent, fervid, impassioned, passionate;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

NATIONALIST Defined for English Language Learners

nationalist

noun

Definition of nationalist for English Language Learners

: a supporter of or believer in nationalism
: a member of a political group that wants to form a separate and independent nation

nationalist

adjective

Definition of nationalist for English Language Learners

: of or relating to nationalism
: of or relating to a political group that wants to form a separate and independent nation

NATIONALIST Defined for Kids

nationalist

noun na·tion·al·ist \ ˈna-shə-nə-list \

Definition of nationalist for Students

: a person who believes that his or her country is better and more important than other countries

Learn More about nationalist

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for nationalist Spanish Central: Translation of nationalist Nglish: Translation of nationalist for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of nationalist for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up nationalist? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

effigy

play

a figure representing a hated person

BROWSE DICTIONARY

nationalise

nationalism

nationalist

nationalistic

nationality

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games