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as in secessionist
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Recent Examples of separatist
Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
9 June 2026
McDougall places this élitist, separatist tendency side by side with the more democratic, but no less fertile, creativity of the people who invented the city’s iconic dances.
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Marina Harss,
New Yorker,
3 June 2026
ABC News,
7 May 2026
The Alberta separatist movement dates back decades, but has gained momentum in the past year, after the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, won Canada’s federal election.
—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
5 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for separatist
Adjective
After the United States rejected (yet again) Vladimir Putin’s proposals for a new European security architecture in December 2021, and after the Ukrainian government ramped up its shelling of separatist forces, Putin responded by recognizing the breakaway republics in the Donbas.
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Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
9 June 2026
McDougall places this élitist, separatist tendency side by side with the more democratic, but no less fertile, creativity of the people who invented the city’s iconic dances.
—
Marina Harss,
New Yorker,
3 June 2026
Noun
The attacks, which have been claimed by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), followed last month's heavy assaults on the government by the group and a Tuareg separatist group, the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA.
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ABC News,
7 May 2026
The Alberta separatist movement dates back decades, but has gained momentum in the past year, after the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, won Canada’s federal election.
—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
5 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for separatist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for separatist
Adjective
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In the months after Assad’s fall in Syria, there were several eruptions of violence between groups loyal and opposed to al-Sharaa that spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks, in which Sunni Islamist fighters affiliated with the new government carried out attacks on Alawite and Druze civilians.
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During the Biden administration, the DSA hemorrhaged members amid sectarian infighting, especially over Palestine.
Noun
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However, various secessionist movements waxed and waned during the period between independence and the Civil War.
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During the Civil War, Southern California had its own pro-Confederacy secessionist militia, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles.
Adjective
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The potential members of a schismatic Catholic sect are located in areas of the world such as the United States, where the church has significant financial resources and assets, plus a wide array of independent Catholic institutions that operate largely outside the hierarchy of the church.
Noun
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More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred in the East African nation by Hutu extremists over roughly 100 days from April to July 1994.
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Opportunists like the daycare group, which was selling weapons, and extremists — not the hobbyists.
Cite this Entry
“Separatist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/separatist. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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