anti-mask

or an·ti·mask

[ an-tee-mask, an-tahy- ]

adjective

1. Also anti-masking. being or relating to legislation prohibiting any form of concealment of the face in public:

   Between the 1920s and 1950s, more than a dozen U.S. states passed anti-mask legislation in response to activities of the Ku Klux Klan.

2. being or relating to a person or group that resists wearing a mask over the nose and mouth to prevent the spread of infection, or that opposes the mandatory wearing of such masks, as during a pandemic:

   An anti-mask protest outside our local high school triggered a precautionary lockdown at three other schools.

   You won’t win your staunchly anti-mask friends over by shaming them.

Other Words From

• an·ti-mask·er an·ti·mask·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of anti-mask¹

First recorded in 1915–20; anti- ( def ) + mask ( def )

Example Sentences

"Big losses across the state for candidates who advanced the group’s agenda, including efforts to ban library books and restrict lessons about race, sex and gender, pointed to mounting dissatisfaction with an organization that had quickly gained sway with powerful Republicans amid the anti-mask, parental rights politics of the pandemic," reports the Tampa Bay Times.

From Salon

Bird, whose political resume is that he started an anti-mask revolt and then was recalled by voters from an Eastern Washington school board after only 20 months?

From Seattle Times

Of course the present-day GOP went for the anti-mask protester.

From Seattle Times

The pro-censorship/anti-mask group was founded in Florida in January 2021 by far-right Republican activists, including Zielger, passing themselves off as mere "concerned mothers."

From Salon

The forum discussions morphed into anti-mask rants and vaccine conspiracy theories, littered with misinformation.

From Los Angeles Times