antiauthoritarian

adjective

an·​ti·​au·​thor·​i·​tar·​i·​an ˌan-tē-ȯ-ˌthär-ə-ˈter-ē-ən 

-tē-ə-,

-ˌthȯr-,

ˌan-ˌtī-

variants or anti-authoritarian

: opposed or hostile toward authority, authoritarians, or authoritarianism

Yet the digital world has been notoriously reluctant to worry much about security issues, because they pose conflicts with cherished antiauthoritarian notions of freedom.

—Jon Katz

antiauthoritarian noun

or anti-authoritarian

In communist East Germany, a number of leading antiauthoritarians were arrested.

—Bob McGlynn

antiauthoritarianism

ˌan-tē-ȯ-ˌthär-ə-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm 

-tē-ə-

-ˌthȯr-

ˌan-ˌtī-

noun

or anti-authoritarianism

… the personal antiauthoritarianism exemplified by the sixties pot-smokers …

—Katha Pollitt

Examples of antiauthoritarian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Russians needed to consider the possibility that Telegram, the supposedly antiauthoritarian app cofounded by the mercurial Saint Petersburg native Pavel Durov, was now complying with the Kremlin’s legal requests. —Krista Stevens, Longreads, 3 Feb. 2023

Boseman’s role in Lee’s film—as an officer in the Vietnam War who, with a personal version of antiauthoritarian radicalism, both mentors and educates young Black soldiers under his command—is brief but fierce and complex. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2021

Insufficient law enforcement, coupled with antiauthoritarian attitudes among non-Natives, contributed to an 'anything goes' atmosphere in which migrants exploited Alaska Natives. —Anchorage Daily News, 17 Dec. 2017

He'd always been drawn to antiauthoritarian sites: The hacking group Anonymous interested him because of its dedication to preventing animal cruelty. —Jessica Pishko, Esquire, 8 Sep. 2016

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above