as in doves
a person who opposes war or warlike policies
a committed pacifist, Gandhi succeeded in bringing about Indian independence using only nonviolence
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Recent Examples of pacifists
However, it was criticized by pacifists at home and China for deviating from Japan’s postwar self-defense only principle.
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ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
All voiceover in the film is detached from the images, from a mixture of unidentified community folk who are content to speak anonymously, and neighboring outsiders perplexed by these out-of-time pacifists.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
All voiceover in the film is detached from the images, from a mixture of unidentified community folk who are content to speak anonymously, and neighboring outsiders perplexed by these out-of-time pacifists.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pacifists
doves
Noun
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The program has expanded to include guinea pigs, chickens, doves, goats, turtles and rabbits.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 May 2026
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Roses were gently laid across the caskets before eight white doves were released into the sky, their wings unfurling into the clouds — a cruel irony beside the eight young lives below, cut short before their stories ever had the chance to unfurl at all.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pacifists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pacifists. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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