Conspiracist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who believes in or promotes explanations for events that attribute them to secret coordinated actions by powerful groups
2. Someone who accepts or advocates conspiracy theories as explanations for major historical or current events
3. An individual who subscribes to or spreads theories attributing significant occurrences to covert schemes by influential actors

Etymology: "Conspiracist" is a plain compound: "conspiracy" plus the suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises or believes in something. The suffix itself has a long pedigree. It descends from Greek forms ending in "-istēs," which denoted agents, and passed into Latin as "-ista," then into Old French as "-iste," and finally into Middle English, where it became the productive English "-ist" seen in words like "artist" and "dentist." Because "-ist" attaches to almost any noun, English speakers could form new agent nouns quickly. "Conspiracist" follows that pattern: it names someone who engages in conspiracy, or who habitually explains events as the work of secret plots. The word is built from familiar parts rather than borrowed whole, so its meaning is transparent in the way most "-ist" words are.

Synonyms: conspiracy theorist