suffragette

noun suf·frag·ette \ ˌsə-fri-ˈjet \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Definition of suffragette

: a woman who advocates suffrage for women

See suffragette defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of suffragette from the Web

From Alice Paul and her fellow suffragettes to Gloria Steinem and Shirley Chisholm, the list can read like a who's who of feminism.

— abby gardner, Glamour, "The ERA Is Back in the News—This Is Why You Should Be Paying Attention," 12 June 2018
The 15th Amendment’s passage in 1870, granting black men the right to vote, became a spur that politicized white women and turned them into suffragettes.

— constance grady, Vox, "The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained," 1 June 2018
Whereas an earlier generation of activists had put their names to petitions, the twentieth-century suffragettes put their bodies in the streets.

— joanna scutts, The New Republic, "The Fight Women Won," 20 Apr. 2018
Here is an overview of the waves of feminism in the US, from the suffragettes to #MeToo.

— constance grady, Vox, "The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained," 1 June 2018
Fawcett's suffrage movement used non-violent methods to campaign for equal rights for women, as opposed to the more radical suffragettes known for their extreme tactics of hunger strikes, arson and chaining themselves to property.

— sheena mckenzie, CNN, "All the statues in London's Parliament Square were men -- until now," 24 Apr. 2018
Democratic women, who wore modest white pantsuits (in honor of the suffragettes) at the State of the Union, in protest of President Trump's stance on women's rights.

— jennifer wright, Harper's BAZAAR, "Stop Telling Women Their Feminist Ideas Don't Matter Because of How They Dress," 3 Mar. 2017
History is still not quite sure what to do with the militant suffragettes.

— joanna scutts, The New Republic, "The Fight Women Won," 20 Apr. 2018
Women to be included on the face of coins in limited circulation included Sacagawea, the native woman who was pivotal to Lewis and Clark's journey through the West and suffragette Susan B. Anthony.

— marlena scott, Teen Vogue, "The Complete History of Money in America, From Pelts to Pennies," 13 Apr. 2018

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