as in rebel
a person who thinks that a nation, state, etc., should separate from another and become independent
A growing group of secessionists are pushing for the independence of the region.
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Recent Examples of secessionist
Watch The Fall Guy on Amazon Prime Video Civil War
In this A24 dystopian thriller, America is mired in a brutal civil war between a dictatorial federal government and secessionist factions.
—
James Mercadante, People.com, 29 Aug. 2025
One of the American men involved has made a list of Trump supporters in Greenland, with the goal of later recruiting them to establish a secessionist movement on the island, according to the broadcaster.
—Henrik Pettersson, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2025
As analysts have previously told Newsweek, even those critical of the Islamic Republic often rally behind the central government in the face of external threats and secessionist movements.
—Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Juneteenth commemorates the complete enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved African Americans in secessionist states – signed by former President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.
—Greta Cross, USA Today, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for secessionist
James Mercadante, People.com, 29 Aug. 2025
One of the American men involved has made a list of Trump supporters in Greenland, with the goal of later recruiting them to establish a secessionist movement on the island, according to the broadcaster.
—Henrik Pettersson, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2025
As analysts have previously told Newsweek, even those critical of the Islamic Republic often rally behind the central government in the face of external threats and secessionist movements.
—Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Juneteenth commemorates the complete enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved African Americans in secessionist states – signed by former President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.
—Greta Cross, USA Today, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for secessionist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secessionist
Noun
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The apparent killing – captured on video shared online by the rebels themselves – took place at a university medical school in El Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over the city on Sunday.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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As regular troops in French service, the British treated them as prisoners of war instead of Jacobite rebels, and eventually repatriated them to France.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste won the electoral district of Terrebonne, north of the city of Montreal, by just one vote, flipping a seat that had long been held by the Bloc Québécois, Canada’s Quebec separatist party.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
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Cameroon, with its longstanding Anglophone separatist insurgency and jihadists forcing thousands to flee their homes, is particularly at risk.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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That revelation prodded insurgents in British possessions from Ireland to Sierra Leone to take to the streets to assert their own ambitions for economic and political autonomy over the decades to come.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Ilana presents herself as a stout-hearted reformer who’s being targeted by fascistic insurgents but is secretly evil enough to engineer an apocalypse.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric and endorsement of AfD, Germany’s extremist, anti-immigrant party, have weighed on left-leaning consumers’ interest in the Tesla brand there.—
Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
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The pitch helped the Democratic nominee withstand Earle-Sears’ attacks on cultural issues, notably the Republican’s assertion that Spanberger is an extremist on transgender rights.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Secessionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secessionist. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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