as in revolutionaries
a person who favors rapid and sweeping changes especially in laws and methods of government
radicals staged large, violent protests in the hopes of toppling the government
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Recent Examples of radicals
Lightning also sparks hydroxyl radicals, which help cleanse the air by breaking down methane and other gases.
—
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2025
On the one side, bell bottoms became the signature look of 1970s radicals.
—Stephen Mihm, Twin Cities, 22 Aug. 2025
And then there's the question of whether this bipartisanship extends to the House, where the shorter terms in office have tended to lead to a chamber with a significantly larger population of radicals.
—ArsTechnica, 19 Aug. 2025
Hasina's ouster has left both political as well as security vacuums, giving more space to religious radicals.
—Michael Kugelman, NPR, 21 Dec. 2024
Obama ended up funding and arming the Syrian opposition so feebly it was slaughtered and – when its extremists joined up with radicals from Iraq’s long-running insurgency against the US occupation – metastasized into ISIS.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
In fact, the group’s radicals are likely to be emboldened.
—Saeid Golkar, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2024
The Black Panther Party in the late 1960s organized Puerto Rican radicals and Confederate flag-waving white Southerner transplants to help tackle poverty and discrimination in Chicago — an effort that drew attention from the FBI.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 1 Oct. 2024
Unlike many sixties radicals, Amiri never found a comfortable place in the cultural mainstream.
—Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2025
On the one side, bell bottoms became the signature look of 1970s radicals.
—Stephen Mihm, Twin Cities, 22 Aug. 2025
And then there's the question of whether this bipartisanship extends to the House, where the shorter terms in office have tended to lead to a chamber with a significantly larger population of radicals.
—ArsTechnica, 19 Aug. 2025
Hasina's ouster has left both political as well as security vacuums, giving more space to religious radicals.
—Michael Kugelman, NPR, 21 Dec. 2024
Obama ended up funding and arming the Syrian opposition so feebly it was slaughtered and – when its extremists joined up with radicals from Iraq’s long-running insurgency against the US occupation – metastasized into ISIS.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
In fact, the group’s radicals are likely to be emboldened.
—Saeid Golkar, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2024
The Black Panther Party in the late 1960s organized Puerto Rican radicals and Confederate flag-waving white Southerner transplants to help tackle poverty and discrimination in Chicago — an effort that drew attention from the FBI.
—Russell Contreras, Axios, 1 Oct. 2024
Unlike many sixties radicals, Amiri never found a comfortable place in the cultural mainstream.
—Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for radicals
Noun
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The film was One Battle After Another, Anderson’s high-octane adaptation of Vineland, Thomas Pynchon’s anarchic 1990 novel about a crew of former leftist revolutionaries — the French 75 — living in a slightly more dystopian version of present-day America.—
Seija Rankin,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
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Such was the importance placed on the tree for mobilizing resistance that in 1775, it was cut down by British soldiers to demoralize the revolutionaries.—
Ellen Walker,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Middle Belt and northern states are especially volatile, with Islamic militant groups like Boko Haram, Fulani extremists and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) targeting Christian communities through mass killings, kidnappings and church burnings.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Aug. 2025
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Only the liberals and the extremists do that.—
Tom Tapp,
Deadline,
12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Radicals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/radicals. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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