feminist

1 of 2

noun

fem·​i·​nist ˈfe-mə-nist 

plural feminists

: a person who supports or engages in feminism

Similarly, Saint Thomas's resident nun, Sister Maureen (Ann Dowd), is no girlish cutie: She's an ardent, in-your-face feminist.

—Terrence Rafferty

He [Stendhal] was a feminist and … he held that to deprive women of education 'deprives society of half its potential for intellectual achievement'.

—V. S. Pritchett

feminist

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adjective

: of, relating to, supporting, or compatible with feminism

feminist theory

the feminist movement

The act of speaking is a way women come to power, telling our stories, sharing history, engaging in feminist discussion.

—bell hooks

[Patricia] Ireland, past president of the National Organization for Women, is perhaps the best-known former Pan Am flight attendant of the '60s; seven years working for the airline helped inspire her feminist activism, which included campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment.

—Sarah Rose

Examples of feminist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Several feminists wondered whether France is in a second wave of the #MeToo movement, which rippled through the film industry here after Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s takedown in 2017 but failed to land the same punch on a broader spectrum as in the United States and other countries. —Linda Hervieux, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2024

Of course, women are not a monolith, and feminists are not one type of ally. —Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024

Adjective

Inspired by the true story of Marguerite de La Rocque, Allegra Goodman’s latest novel is a feminist castaway tale about love, faith, and self-actualization. —Shannon Carlin, TIME, 17 Dec. 2024

Performance and back-and-forth questioning with an audience are hallmarks of the three projects O’Grady is arguably best known for — two under her own name, the other as a member of the anonymous feminist collective the Guerrilla Girls. —Benjamin Sutton, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1887, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1852, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing feminist

• anti-feminist
• pre-feminist
• trans exclusionary radical feminist