republican

adjective

1

Republican

a

: of, relating to, or constituting the one of the two major political parties in the U.S. that is usually associated with reduced taxation, with limited government regulation of business, finance, industry, education, and policing, with strong national defense, and with opposition to abortion, affirmative action, gun control, and policies and laws that are viewed as challenging traditional social and family hierarchies and structure

a Republican governor/senator

Republican voters

Republican leadership

members of the Republican Party

b

in U.S. history : democratic-republican

2

a

or less commonly Republican : of or relating to a republic (see republic sense 1a) rather than to a monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, etc.

especially : organized so that governing power belongs to a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by the leaders and representatives elected by those citizens to govern according to law

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government …

—U.S. Constitution

… the true source of danger to republican government. Whatever may be tolerated in monarchical and despotic governments, no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them.

—Frederick Douglass

b

: favoring, supporting, or advocating a form of government in which representatives are elected

He [Thomas Jefferson] had been amazed, on first arriving at New York, to hear, in government circles, so little republican and so much aristocratic sentiment …

—Philip Marsh

"… The republican institutions of our country have produced simpler and happier manners than those which prevail in the great monarchies that surround it. Hence there is less distinction between the several classes of its inhabitants. … A servant in Geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in France and England. …"

—Mary Shelley

c

Republican chiefly British : favoring or supporting the joining of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland into a single republic

d

dated : belonging or appropriate to one living in or supporting a republic (see republic sense 1)

Horse-RACING is not a republican institution; horse-TROTTING is. Only very rich persons can keep race-horses, and everybody knows they are kept mainly as gambling implements.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

Synonyms of republican

• democratic

Examples of republican in a Sentence

the leader of the Republican Party

a small but well-organized republican movement working quietly to overthrow the military dictatorship

Recent Examples on the Web

The House of Representatives again overrode Republican leaders to pass a bill that would authorize billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 5 June 2026

Washington — The House approved an effort on Thursday to send fresh assistance to Ukraine after a few Republican members joined with Democrats to force a vote on the issue. —Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 5 June 2026

His use of jocular names for detention centers has been imitated by other Republican governors creating state facilities to be used by ICE. —Eric Schlosser, The Atlantic, 4 June 2026

The winner will take on incumbent Republican John King in November. —Riley Bunch, AJC.com, 4 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Phrases Containing republican

• anti-republican

Rhymes for republican

• publican

Kids Definition

republican

1 of 2 adjective

re·​pub·​li·​can ri-ˈpəb-li-kən 

1

a

: of, relating to, or resembling a republic

b

: favoring or supporting a republic

2

capitalized

a

: democratic-republican

b

: of, relating to, or being one of the two major political parties in the U.S.

republican

2 of 2 noun

1

: one that favors or supports a republican form of government

2

capitalized

a

: a member of a political party favoring republicanism

b

: a member of the Democratic-Republican party or of the Republican party of the U.S.