Other forms: nationalists
A nationalist is somebody devoted to the interests of their own country. A Scottish nationalist, nationalist parties, a nationalist movement.
In Ireland and Scotland it names a constitutional position about which state you should belong to, which is quite different from the word's use elsewhere. Whether it is a compliment depends entirely on where it is said.
1nounnationalistSomebody devoted to the interests of their own country.
“The nationalist leader promised to put his own country first and close the borders.”
nationalist is a person.
Middle French
national
English
national
English, today
nationalist
From national + -ist. national comes from Middle French national, corresponding to nation + al.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA