partisan 1 of 2

partisan

2 of 2

noun

variants also partizan
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2
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as in sectarian
one who stubbornly or intolerantly adheres to his or her own opinions and prejudices she's too much of a political partisan to ever concede that the other side might have a valid point

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word partisan different from other nouns like it?

Some common synonyms of partisan are adherent, disciple, and follower. While all these words mean "one who gives full loyalty and support to another," partisan suggests a zealous often prejudiced attachment.

partisans of the President

When could adherent be used to replace partisan?

The synonyms adherent and partisan are sometimes interchangeable, but adherent suggests a close and persistent attachment.

adherents to Marxism

When might disciple be a better fit than partisan?

While the synonyms disciple and partisan are close in meaning, disciple implies a devoted allegiance to the teachings of one chosen as a master.

disciples of Gandhi

When can follower be used instead of partisan?

Although the words follower and partisan have much in common, follower may apply to people who attach themselves either to the person or beliefs of another.

an evangelist and his followers

Example Sentences

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 partisan
Adjective
Not officially, of course: in keeping with the underlying mission of the IOC, Bach would never do something as openly partisan as endorsing a successor. Blythe Lawrence, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that Democratic judges are acting as partisan activists trying to derail Trump’s agenda. Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2025
Noun
The book details how many of those partisans then burrowed in to senior career positions during the Trump administration. CBS News, 1 Dec. 2024 Democrats have no more claim to Latino identity than Republicans, and the idea that putting partisans from both camps under the same ethnic tent might bring about commonality on hot-button issues such as reproductive rights or mass deportations is nonsense. Mike Madrid, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for partisan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for partisan
Adjective
  • However, the less-than-truckload (LTL) provider won a partial victory in that battle in February, as Goldblatt ruled that the funds set the company’s withdrawal liability too high.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 11 Mar. 2025
  • However, before that, on March 29, a partial solar eclipse — the sister celestial event of the total lunar eclipse — will occur and be seen from North America (though only from northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada) and Europe.
    Jamie Carter, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The other nephew is still an ardent adherent to the cult and has gifted much of his substantial wealth to it.
    R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2025
  • Nostalgia for the pre-Brown era would not exercise nearly so powerful a grip on Black America today if its adherents focused on its detailed, pervasive inhumanities rather than relying on gauzy glimpses.
    Justin Driver, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The statuette was designed to resemble a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film, according to the Academy.
    Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 7 Feb. 2025
  • A number of fans seem to believe that the shift can be attributed to his portrayal of Gotham City's caped crusader in Matt Reeves' 2022 reboot of the DC character.
    Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • People want to get rid of religious parties, people want to put sectarians behind to build an Iraq for all Iraqis.
    Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 22 May 2015
  • Both sides insist the other initiated the initial volley of gunfire that killed four agents and six sectarians.
    Joshua Alston, Variety, 12 Apr. 2023
Adjective
  • Amid the ongoing negotiations over a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia amid their ongoing war, Trump has spoken favorably of Putin while having a sometimes openly hostile relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
    Mark Davis, Newsweek, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Bill Belichick's 24-year-old cheerleader girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, posted a screenshot of a hostile exchange with an Instagram user who criticized the couple's relationship Friday.
    Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Once the British-Ghanaian expat shared her journey on social media, she was flooded with questions from followers wanting to follow in her footsteps.
    Danielle Pointdujour, Essence, 20 Mar. 2025
  • While the Willis family has maintained his privacy since sharing his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis in 2023, Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore shared several intimate photos with her social media followers in honor of his special day.
    Sara Vallone, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Jane’s fiercely unforgiving tone was adopted by militant Irish nationalists for whom the famine stood as the ultimate proof of English perfidy.
    Fintan O'Toole, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
  • American diplomats correctly estimated that the Indonesian nationalists could be counted on as allies in the Cold War and did not want the Netherlands to get in the way.
    Nicholas Mulder, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Guitarist John Watson and bassist Vic Byers traded taut vocals and swaggering, distorted riffs.
    Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2025
  • In his March 4 address to a joint session of Congress, Trump either distorted or outright lied about the facts on fraud (DOGE), immigration, aid to Ukraine, the economy, the construction of the Panama Canal, something about autism and more.
    Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Partisan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/partisan. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

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