Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Properly, one who advocates anarchy or the absence of government as a political ideal; a believer in an anarchic theory of society; especially, an adherent of the social theory of Proudhon. See anarchy, 2.
  • noun In popular use, one who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, all law and order, and all rights of property, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed; especially, such a person when actuated by mere lust of plunder.
  • noun Any person who promotes disorder or excites revolt against an established rule, law, or custom. See anarch and nihilist.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An anarch; one who advocates anarchy of aims at the overthrow of civil government.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who believes in or advocates the absence of hierarchy and authority in most forms (compare anarchism), especially one who works toward the realization of such.
  • noun One who disregards laws and social norms as a form of rebellion against authority.
  • noun By extension from previous sense, one who promotes chaos and lawlessness; a nihilist.
  • noun One who resents outside control or influence on his or her life, in particular a government, and therefore desires the absence of political control.
  • adjective Relating to anarchism or to anarchists.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an advocate of anarchism

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French anarchiste, from Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhia) from the roots ἀν- (an-, "without") + ἀρχή (arkhe, "rule").

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Examples

  • Tucker was famously strict in applying the term anarchist — he argued that professedly anti-statist communists such as Johann Most or the Haymarket martyrs were not in fact anarchists, but only governmentalists of a different stripe who had illegitimately appropriated the term from the proponents of individual property and free markets.

    Benjamin Tucker on Anarcho-Capitalism 2007

  • Tucker was famously strict in applying the term anarchist — he argued that professedly anti-statist communists such as Johann Most or the Haymarket martyrs were not in fact anarchists, but only governmentalists of a different stripe who had illegitimately appropriated the term from the proponents of individual property and free markets.

    Rad Geek People’s Daily – 2007 – December – 01 2007

  • Deborah Orr has mistakenely udes the word 'anarchist' as a synonym for 'criminal' which is accepted without question these days , yet is so ignorant, wrong and mistaken.

    The Guardian World News Deborah Orr 2011

  • I remember being shocked by her transformation from rich sheltered white girl to gun-totin 'anarchist (despite the fact it was clear in many of the surveillance tapes from banks and the like that she was as much a victim as the bank tellers).

    Patty vs. Tania 2008

  • As the title states, Emma Goldman, famous feminist anarchist, is the focus of the collection.

    Archive 2006-05-01 2006

  • As the title states, Emma Goldman, famous feminist anarchist, is the focus of the collection.

    Creating, Managing & Pres. Dig. Assets: Emma Goldman Papers 2006

  • [Anyone planning to use the Anarchist Cookbook should note that the title does not specify which end of the cooking process the anarchist is on.]

    Another Day in the Ketchup Mine 2005

  • He has been called an anarchist, a socialist, a nationalist, a proto-fascist, an anti-Semite, a conman, a self-centered egotist, an animal rights advocate, a vegetarian, and a wife-stealing womanizer.

    The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002

  • He has been called an anarchist, a socialist, a nationalist, a proto-fascist, an anti-Semite, a conman, a self-centered egotist, an animal rights advocate, a vegetarian, and a wife-stealing womanizer.

    The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002

  • He has been called an anarchist, a socialist, a nationalist, a proto-fascist, an anti-Semite, a conman, a self-centered egotist, an animal rights advocate, a vegetarian, and a wife-stealing womanizer.

    The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002

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  • Rhymes with antichrist.

    November 23, 2008

  • Song quotation on mould.

    December 2, 2008