separatist

noun

sep·a·rat·ist | \ ˈse-p(ə-)rə-tist

, ˈse-pə-ˌrā-\

Definition of separatist

: one that favors separatism: such as

a capitalized : one of a group of 16th and 17th century English Protestants preferring to separate from rather than to reform the Church of England

b : an advocate of independence or autonomy for a part of a political unit (such as a nation)

c : an advocate of racial or cultural separation

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Examples of separatist in a Sentence

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Kashmiri separatists are conducting their own reign of terror, threatening or even attacking civilians in a campaign to destroy any semblance of normality that may be creeping back after more than a month of heavy military crackdowns. — Suhasini Raj, New York Times, "Abused by Soldiers and Militants, Kashmiris Face Dangers in Daily Life," 15 Sep. 2019 Ren was labeled as a separatist by the classmate (many mainland Chinese equate the protesters to supporters of Hong Kong independence, in line with the narrative pushed by state propaganda). — Tony Lin, Quartz, "Chinese people who show sympathy for Hong Kong’s protests risk getting doxxed by friends," 30 Aug. 2019 Armed separatists have announced a series of total lockdown in the North West and South West regions in September. — Amindeh Blaise Atabong, Quartz Africa, "Cameroon’s Anglophone separatist leaders have been jailed for life," 20 Aug. 2019 On July 17, 2014, the day of the attack, Russian television initially reported that separatists had shot down a Ukrainian military airplane. — David Satter, WSJ, "Hold Russia Accountable for MH17," 26 June 2019 The international investigation team into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 charged three Russians and a Ukrainian separatist with the murder of 298 people on board the plane that was shot down over Ukraine. — Mike Corder, chicagotribune.com, "The Netherlands to put 4 on trial for murder in downing of MH17 over Ukraine," 19 June 2019 And in Canada, that trend was filtered through a specific context—the need to appease Quebec separatists. — Lila Maclellan, Quartz, "Canada’s elaborate citizenship ceremonies would be indoctrination if held anywhere else," 29 Aug. 2019 Now politics in Jammu & Kashmir can either be assimilationist or separatist. — Riyaz Wani, Quartz India, "With Kashmir’s autonomy gone, its pro-India political parties have lost all credibility," 27 Aug. 2019 Coalition aircraft bombed the separatists, and the Saudis demanded a ceasefire. — Bobby Ghosh, The Denver Post, "Guest Commentary: The last thing Yemen needed was a second civil war," 24 Aug. 2019

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