Anarchist

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæn.ə.kɪst/

Definitions

1. A person who believes in or advocates for a society without government or hierarchical authority
2. An individual who opposes established governmental systems and promotes a society free from coercive authority and social hierarchies
3. A person who supports the idea of complete political and social freedom, rejecting any form of enforced governance or institutional domination

Etymology: The Greek word "arkhē" meant "beginning," "origin," or "rule," and it was the root of words like "monarchy" and "oligarchy." Attaching the privative prefix "an-" ("without") produced "anarkhia," literally "without a ruler," which the Greeks used to describe a state of lawlessness or the absence of a leader. The Greeks thus treated lack of rule as a condition to be avoided, not a political ideal. The noun was borrowed into English through French: "anarchie" entered French first, and "anarchiste" followed, with the "-ist" ending marking a person who holds a particular doctrine. English "anarchy" is the older of the two, and "anarchist" came after it in the same tradition of political vocabulary. The word thus moved from describing disorder, a thing the Greeks feared, to naming a political position that some people embraced on purpose.

Synonyms: rebel, dissenter, nonconformist, insurgent, libertarian

Antonyms: authoritarian, follower, conformist, loyalist, patriot