survivalist

noun

sur·​viv·​al·​ist sər-ˈvī-və-list 

: a person who advocates or practices survivalism

especially : one who has prepared to survive in the anarchy of an anticipated breakdown of society

survivalist adjective

Examples of survivalist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The psychological survivalist thriller operates on multiple timelines: The primary one follows a high school girls' soccer team — the Yellowjackets — after their plane crashes in the woods in 1996. —Skyler Trepel, People.com, 14 Feb. 2025

By Result By Alice Gibbs Senior Life and Trends Reporter 0 A fan of retro-futurism and survivalist relics has taken things to a new level, sharing the opening of a 70-year-old can of emergency drinking water. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025

Editor’s Pick When Drew Miller established Fortitude Ranch, a network of survivalist compounds, foreign terrorist attacks were at the top of people’s minds. —Clare Malone, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024

Why does one family send two knives to their survivalist, thus depriving another of a knife? —Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 10 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for survivalist

• revivalist