dissident
Americannoun
-
dissidents
plural
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dissident
1525–35; < Latin dissident- (stem of dissidēns, present participle of dissidēre to sit apart), equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + -sid- (combining form of sed- repair 1 ) + -ent- -ent
Explanation
If you are a dissident, you are a person who is rebelling against a government. Dissidents can do their work peacefully or with violence. Dissident is closely related to the word, dissent, which means objecting. People who are dissidents show their dissent. Catholic priests who advocate allowing women into the priesthood could be called dissidents, as could the Puritans who left England to live in colonial America. As an adjective, a dissident member of a group is one who disagrees with the majority of members.
Vocabulary lists containing dissident
Power Prefix: dis-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Set up in 1988 and named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, the EU prize is bestowed annually on individuals or organisations to recognise their fight for human rights or democracy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
He’s brought in for questioning after allegedly conspiring with a dissident priest, only to find that his interrogator is a former student.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
Anne Martens, a workshop attendee as well as an artist and poet, said the idea of surveillance and dissident art intrigues her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The 41-year-old dissident put Hong Kong’s legal system and the Chinese Communist Party on the spot as few others have.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The nearest thing classical music had to a genuine political dissident in the 1930s was the Hungarian modernist Bela Bartok.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
His death adds to concerns about the safety of Rwandan dissidents living in exile.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Taught by L.A.-based artist and poet Kate Ingold, the workshops center on samizdat, a practice in which Soviet dissidents hand-typed literature, criticism and poetry to bypass state censorship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
While a handful of moderate dissidents are tacitly tolerated as a matter of expedience, most other heretics have been driven from the tent.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2026
In this dimension, Ibari Waker is an intelligence agent who, despite pangs of conscience, helps arrest pro-democracy dissidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
In any case, Euergetes acted decisively, defeating the dissidents and importing vast amounts of grain to feed the people.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
