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extremist

UK/ɪkˈstɹiːmɪst/US/ɪkˈstɹiːmɪst/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,437 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: extremists

An extremist is somebody who holds and acts on views far from the centre. An extremist group, extremist views, branded an extremist.

The centre it measures from is whatever a society currently accepts, so the label moves with the times and is argued over accordingly. In practice it is used of those who reject compromise and, often, who accept violence. Note extreme beneath it, and the -ist that names a holder of views.

Definitions of extremist

  1. 1nounextremistSomebody holding views far from the centre.C1

    “Police arrested an extremist who was planning an attack on the city.”

extremist is a person.

Where it comes from

  1. Latin

    extrēmus

  2. Old French

    extreme

  3. English

    extreme

  4. English, today

    extremist

From extreme + -ist. extreme Borrowed into late Middle English - from Old French extreme, from Latin extrēmus, the superlative of exter.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

Practise this word

extremist in the wild

  • Far-right terrorism consists of extremist, militant, or insurgent groups that attempt to realise their ideals through political violence rather than using democratic processes.

    Far-right politics

  • Justifications given for attacks on civilians by Islamic extremist groups come from their interpretations of the Quran, the hadith, and Sharia.

    Islamic terrorism

  • Linked with it is a TBR Bookclub, promoting what the SPLC describes as "a wide range of extremist books and publications".

    The Barnes Review

  • The NBP was, at the time, the only large-scale nationwide organization officially recognized by a court as extremist under the Law on Combating Extremist Activity.

    National Bolshevik Party

  • The SPLC refers to these extremist groups as "Radical Hebrew Israelites" to distinguish between "extremist and non-extremist sects" and because not all Hebrew Israelites are black.

    Black Hebrew Israelites

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the extreme family

extremelyextreme

extremist — used about once every 8,972 pages · #11,437 · point at the bar for the others