as in revolutionaries
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
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Recent Examples of extremists
Reparations will support education, economic aid and mental health services, with programs specifically targeting women and girls who endured systematic persecution by extremists in Timbuktu.
—
Molly Quell, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Vulnerable rural communities regularly come under fire from Islamic extremists and bandits who take advantage of Nigeria’s vast rural areas and security gaps.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
The Associated Press reported that Algerian authorities rejected a Vatican request for Leo to visit Médéa to pray at the Tibhirine monastery, the place where seven French Trappist monks were kidnapped and killed May 21, 1996, by Islamic extremists during the country’s civil war.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2026
Modern extremists aren’t known for their love of Broadway, but a song about impressing a girl by killing a president takes on new meaning when sung from the lips of a social media loner.
—Charles Lewis Iii, Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2026
Violent extremists feasted on this great replacement propaganda, using it to justify terror attacks across the West.
—Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Keep the pressure on every single one of these extremists.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Yet Ali’s act does not only evoke terrorist incidents such as the Charlie Hebdo attack, perpetrated by Muslim extremists, just a few months prior to The Red Chador.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 31 Mar. 2026
In 2022, two officers were shot dead by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
—CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Molly Quell, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Vulnerable rural communities regularly come under fire from Islamic extremists and bandits who take advantage of Nigeria’s vast rural areas and security gaps.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
The Associated Press reported that Algerian authorities rejected a Vatican request for Leo to visit Médéa to pray at the Tibhirine monastery, the place where seven French Trappist monks were kidnapped and killed May 21, 1996, by Islamic extremists during the country’s civil war.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2026
Modern extremists aren’t known for their love of Broadway, but a song about impressing a girl by killing a president takes on new meaning when sung from the lips of a social media loner.
—Charles Lewis Iii, Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2026
Violent extremists feasted on this great replacement propaganda, using it to justify terror attacks across the West.
—Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2026
Keep the pressure on every single one of these extremists.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Yet Ali’s act does not only evoke terrorist incidents such as the Charlie Hebdo attack, perpetrated by Muslim extremists, just a few months prior to The Red Chador.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 31 Mar. 2026
In 2022, two officers were shot dead by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
—CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extremists
Noun
-
The second includes former revolutionaries, reformists, communist factions and groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), many of whom emerged from or once supported the revolutionary system before later opposing it.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
-
In 1777, he was summoned to Paris to meet with American revolutionaries, including Benjamin Franklin.—
Amanda Rosa
Updated April 28,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The anti-imperialist upsurge of the 1920s and ’30s was formative for a generation of Latin American radicals.—
Tony Wood,
The Conversation,
17 Apr. 2026
-
For every cultural good, identity has become fused with the object of interest, turning previously normal people leading unremarkable lives into Steak ’n Shake beef-tallow purists, Harry Potter moralists, or cast-iron-pan-cleaning radicals.—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Extremists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extremists. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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