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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Refugee
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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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:
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
Not whether Ellison privately considers himself a conservative, a liberal or a man above ideology, nor whether Weiss thinks of herself as a dissident or a reformer.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Otero Alcantara is one of the most prominent figures in Cuba's new dissident movement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Earlier, a police operation targeting dissident republican activity had been carried out nearby.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 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
Anthropic says it disrupted the plot, which was included in its report on adversaries using AI to develop weapons and track dissidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Over the next three decades, the Hong Kong Alliance called on authorities to accept responsibility for the crackdown, free dissidents and introduce democratic reform.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 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
They argued the vast new embassy next to the Tower of London would increase the risk of a terror attack and of espionage and harassment of dissidents and protesters.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
As for the park itself, it was an American version of a Middle Eastern bazaar, with folk singers, storytellers, beggars, political dissidents, soapbox orators, and even the occasional snake charmer.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions 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.
