YOUNG TURK Synonyms: 30 Similar and Opposite Words

young Turk

noun

Definition of young Turk

as in extremist

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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 young Turk And then some young Turk comes along who's not in a routine and can knock you right off your perch. — Robert B. Tucker, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024 The Armenian genocide did not occur at a time when the Ottoman Empire fully ruled the region, but during a period when Young Turk nationalists were in the process of superseding the empire. — Robert D. Kaplan, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for young Turk

Noun

Muslim students should not be expected to answer for extremists who claim to speak in the name of Islam.

— Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026
The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of extremist

Noun

Dohrn, who is the son of the longtime radicals Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers and who has taught for several years at Northwestern University, certainly has enjoyed a catbird’s seat on the culture wars of academia.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026
Some of our friends, who’d assumed that abstract art was all that any longer really mattered, were wondering if Jack’s nudes were radical or retro or if retro was the new radical.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of radical

Noun

The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for oil shipments.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for Gulf oil shipments.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebel

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

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez also cited agitators moving between schools to encourage violence.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Advertisement As protests intensified, state media unleashed a frenzied smear campaign, casting Egyptian protesters as foreign agents and outside agitators.

— Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of agitator

Noun

They’re seen as oligarchs, as the people with wealth and power, controlling our lives—not as outsider insurgents.

— Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Others look further back to early and sporadic insurgent activity in 1964, before the UDI, or to 1965, the year of the UDI (November 11) itself.

— Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of insurgent

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“Young Turk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/young%20Turk. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of young Turk

noun

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