oppositionist

noun

Definition of oppositionistnext
as in challenger

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of oppositionist Yesterday, in an effort to galvanize democratic forces, oppositionists announced the foundation of the Strategic Council of Republicans Inside Iran. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda. — Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024 Within Russia, the oppositionists’ challenges are far greater. — Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2024 Characteristically, Navalny tried to buck up his fellow oppositionists. — The Editors, National Review, 16 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppositionist
  1. challenger
  2. rebel
  3. insurgent
  4. resister
  5. recusant
  6. revolutionist
  7. anarchist
  8. revolutionary
Noun
  • The Atlanta Braves are surging in the NL East, emerging as a formidable challenger to the Dodgers for National League supremacy.
    — Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Five House Democratic incumbents have lost their primaries to progressive challengers this year.
    — Diana Paulsen, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of challenger
Noun
  • Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an attack on Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery Sunday, a major crude oil refinery located on the Red Sea coast in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
    — Ibrahim Dahman, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Attacks could draw retaliation and reignite Yemen’s war Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government into exile.
    — Fatma Khaled, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of rebel
Noun
  • Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2014.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The site aspired to bring an insurgent, punk ethos to the political world.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of insurgent
Noun
  • In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.
    — Menika Dirkson, The Conversation, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of resister
Noun
  • The uniform of the conformist — sports shirt, cardigan, tennis shoes — is as easily recognized as that of the recusant — dirty white T, sideburns, two days’ growth of beard.
    — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 15 July 2019
Definition of recusant
Noun
  • As the head of China’s Nationalist government, Chiang and his party were trying to establish control in a nation divided among revolutionists, nationalists, Indigenous warlords, and a developing communist army and government.
    — Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
  • Many revolutionists see heavy tank casualties in Ukraine as the key indicator for the tank’s looming obsolescence in the face of newly lethal precision antitank weapons.
    — Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2023
Definition of revolutionist
Noun
  • Central Florida’s anarchist, tattooed knockoff of Buc-ee’s beaver mascot is no more.
    — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Indeed, antisemitisms prove that a society can hold contradictory images simultaneously, such as the fact that the Jews are both anarchists out to destroy capitalism as well as capitalists out to exploit the working class.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026
Definition of anarchist
Noun
  • Meyers turns out to be a rich kid with a fancy apartment, someone who can afford to play the artistic revolutionary—which doesn’t negate, and may indeed validate, his love for art.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, published a statement supporting the women’s and gay liberation movements as fellow revolutionaries.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of revolutionary

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Cite this Entry

“Oppositionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppositionist. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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