Synonyms of extremist

extremist 1 of 2

adjective

as in radical

being very far from the center of public opinion

their extremist views on religious issues set them apart from the rest of the community

Synonyms & Similar Words

• radical
• extreme
• rabid
• revolutionary
• fanatic
• ultra
• violent
• revolutionist
• subversive
• reactionary
• wild

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• conservative
• moderate
• traditional
• conventional
• middle-of-the-road
• liberal
• temperate
• orthodox
• unrevolutionary
• nonrevolutionary
• progressive

extremist

2 of 2

noun

as in revolutionary

a person who favors rapid and sweeping changes especially in laws and methods of government

extremists wanted to do away with everything, even though they had no thought-out plan for what to do afterwards

Synonyms & Similar Words

• revolutionary
• radical
• rebel
• revolutionist
• anarchist
• leftist
• crazy
• insurgent
• reformer
• reformist
• lefty
• separatist
• progressive
• agitator
• red
• insurrectionist
• separationist
• secessionist
• subversive
• young Turk
• anarch

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• moderate
• conservative
• Tory
• rightist
• reactionary
• traditionalist
• middle-of-the-roader
• fuddy-duddy
• standpatter

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of extremist

Adjective

Lawyers for victims’ relatives claim that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia aided the hijackers. — Tom Winter, NBC news, 8 Oct. 2026

Netanyahu’s uncompromising stance helps placate his extremist coalition partners, justify permanent Israeli military control over Gaza, and indefinitely forestall any political accommodation with the Palestinians. — Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026

Frances’ data research has already turned up a bunch of similar cases, including the alarming statistic that 64 percent of Facebook users who recently joined extremist groups were directed to those organizations’ sites by the algorithm. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026

Rosen noted that in 2025 after being alerted to his sharing of extremist material online, the FBI actually went to Mohamud's house to attempt to speak to his parents but were rebuffed. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026

The disclosure could deepen scrutiny of the security failures surrounding the flight after officials revealed the Omani co-pilot had previously been barred from flying in his home country over concerns about his extremist views. — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026

Officials already have said the Omani copilot had been barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views. — Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026

The co-pilot has been identified as Hamam al-Hammami, a Middle Eastern source told Fox News, adding that he was barred from flying with Oman Air — his country's airline — in 2024 due to concerns about extremist views. — Michael Sinkewicz , Elizabeth Pritchett, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Reitman started to think about the parallels between Mariyam’s and Andrew’s stories — two disillusioned kids finding extremist communities online — and the very different ways authorities treated them. — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026

Noun

Muslim students should not be expected to answer for extremists who claim to speak in the name of Islam. — Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026

The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026

Labour legislator Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group. — ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026

In their place is a broader vision of internet silliness that can mock everything from tech bros and political extremists to new age spirituality grifters and how-to videos. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026

While there is no formal domestic terrorism statute, the Justice Department has historically used a variety of other criminal laws to charge violent extremists and pursued terrorism enhancements at sentencing. — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026

In 2024, the FBI stopped a domestic extremist in Tennessee who had planned to attack an electrical substation with an explosives-laden drone. — Todd J. Stein, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026

The dichotomy between the white supremacist type, and the Muslim, ISIS-supporting type, and the way that these two types of extremists were treated by the government, was the idea for the original book. — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026

The last of them, a 12-year campaign against ISIS, sought to dismantle the Sunni extremist group that carved out territory across Syria and Iraq in the mid-2010s. — Sarah Tamimi, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026