OPPOSITIONIST Synonyms: 28 Similar and Opposite Words

oppositionist

noun

Definition of oppositionist

as in challenger

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of oppositionist Yesterday, in an effort to galvanize democratic forces, oppositionists announced the foundation of the Strategic Council of Republicans Inside Iran. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda. — Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024 Within Russia, the oppositionists’ challenges are far greater. — Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2024 Characteristically, Navalny tried to buck up his fellow oppositionists. — The Editors, National Review, 16 Feb. 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppositionist

Noun

Questions remain over how the Premier League could create competitive balance, given the vast differences in spending ability between its biggest clubs and smaller challengers.

— Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 7 Oct. 2026
The abundance of peep toes and funky shapes on the runway can be partly credited to a new wave of challenger brands, raising the bar for fresh, off-kilter footwear.

— Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of challenger

Noun

The Saudis did not blame any party for the attacks, but Houthi rebels took credit earlier for the airport strikes.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026
Attacks by the Houthis, the Yemeni rebel group, on commercial shipping in the Red Sea over the last three years have pushed major carriers around the Cape of Good Hope, boosting traffic at ports along Africa’s southern and western coasts.

— Jared Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebel

Noun

They’re seen as oligarchs, as the people with wealth and power, controlling our lives—not as outsider insurgents.

— Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Others look further back to early and sporadic insurgent activity in 1964, before the UDI, or to 1965, the year of the UDI (November 11) itself.

— Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of insurgent

Noun

In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.

— Menika Dirkson, The Conversation, 8 Apr. 2026
Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of resister

Noun

As the head of China’s Nationalist government, Chiang and his party were trying to establish control in a nation divided among revolutionists, nationalists, Indigenous warlords, and a developing communist army and government.

— Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
Many revolutionists see heavy tank casualties in Ukraine as the key indicator for the tank’s looming obsolescence in the face of newly lethal precision antitank weapons.

— Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2023

Definition of revolutionist

Noun

The effects of these publications were hardly only theoretical, as Italian anarchists exerted a powerful influence on labor strikes.

— Ed Simon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Oct. 2026
There are groups of radical environmentalists and anarchists who embrace him, and Luigi Mangione gave the Unabomber Manifesto a four-star review on Goodreads.

— Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of anarchist

Noun

But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
State media claimed that revolutionaries had been trained by Israel and tied them, simultaneously, to the United States, Iran, Hamas, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and international NGOs.

— Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of revolutionary

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“Oppositionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppositionist. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of oppositionist

noun

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