plural statists
: someone who believes that economic controls and planning should be concentrated in the hands of a highly centralized government : an advocate of statism
[U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron] White's cynicism about the distinction between law and politics transformed him into the Court's most persistent statist. A former clerk for another justice summed up White's philosophy as "… If Congress passed this law, why is it my business to get in the way?"—
Jeffrey Rosen
Jeffrey Rosen
statist
adjective
… statist environmentalism, a position favoring a strong state role in environmental governance …
—Christian Brannstrom
Christian Brannstrom
Examples of statist in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Further outrage against the inflexible statist ideology of the world anti-doping bureaucracy is useless.
—Sally Jenkins, Washington Post, 13 July 2024
Despite these important differences, Chinese and Russian elites do share a conservative, statist worldview.
—Joseph Torigian, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2024
But he is better understood as a statist, a leader who subordinates the needs of the people to those of the state.
—Jade McGlynn, Foreign Affairs, 17 Aug. 2023
Beijing has, in short, used the open international economy to bolster its own statist and mercantilist system.
—Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2019
These villages run the gamut from statist to localist.
—Robert Brooks, National Review, 28 July 2021
According to those hard-braking statists, the average American driver slows on the brakes 19 times for every 1,000 miles driven.
—oregonlive.com, 25 June 2019
Biden also offers what statists truly crave: control.
—Deroy Murdock, National Review, 7 June 2019
The left’s narrative of unaccountable capitalism provides a rationale for another regulatory-state power grab, with union stakeholder friends of statists serving as their proxies.
—WSJ, 18 Sep. 2018
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.
Sally Jenkins, Washington Post, 13 July 2024
Despite these important differences, Chinese and Russian elites do share a conservative, statist worldview.
—Joseph Torigian, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2024
But he is better understood as a statist, a leader who subordinates the needs of the people to those of the state.
—Jade McGlynn, Foreign Affairs, 17 Aug. 2023
Beijing has, in short, used the open international economy to bolster its own statist and mercantilist system.
—Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2019
These villages run the gamut from statist to localist.
—Robert Brooks, National Review, 28 July 2021
According to those hard-braking statists, the average American driver slows on the brakes 19 times for every 1,000 miles driven.
—oregonlive.com, 25 June 2019
Biden also offers what statists truly crave: control.
—Deroy Murdock, National Review, 7 June 2019
The left’s narrative of unaccountable capitalism provides a rationale for another regulatory-state power grab, with union stakeholder friends of statists serving as their proxies.
—WSJ, 18 Sep. 2018
Dictionary Entries Near statist
Cite this Entry
“Statist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/statist. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share