anarchist

[ an-er-kist ]

noun

1. a person who advocates or believes in anarchy or anarchism.
2. a person who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed.
3. a person who promotes disorder or excites revolt against any established rule, law, or custom.

anarchist

/ ˈænəkɪst /

noun

1. a person who advocates the abolition of government and a social system based on voluntary cooperation
2. a person who causes disorder or upheaval

Derived Forms

• ˌanarˈchistic, adjective

Other Words From

• anar·chistic adjective
• nonan·ar·chistic adjective
• pseudo·anar·chistic adjective
• semi·anar·chist noun
• semi·anar·chistic adjective
• unan·ar·chistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of anarchist¹

First recorded in 1670–80; anarch(y) + -ist

Example Sentences

We had the anarchist bombings of the 1970s and other periods of unrest.

From Los Angeles Times

"This is a tough question, but this is maybe the question that confronts us right now. There's this guy Curtis Yarvin who's written about some of these things," Vance said, referring to the right-wing blogger and anarchist who has championed that ascendence of a singular leader — in favor of the current system of government — who could "dismantle the whole regime."

From Salon

Kushner's Creation Lake is a spy thriller which sees an American woman infiltrate a radical anarchist collective in rural France.

From BBC

“It’s a romanticism of the past that it’s actually not true. For instance, media covers Martin Luther King with a lot of love and reverence. But we know: Back then, he was presented in media as this anarchist disruptor,” Faison says.

From Seattle Times

Members of the Anarchist Association London Branch and the Camden Art Cafe had previously been with the squatters, handing out free food and drink to "the people of Camden who have been victims of gentrification and parasitic projects like HS2".

From BBC

Related Words

• agitator
• anarch
• revolutionary