partisan 1 of 2

partisan

2 of 2

noun

variants also partizan
1
2
3
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
Solar power shows a smaller partisan gap, with Democrats preferring solar around 20 percentage points more than Republicans. Dilnaz Hasim, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2025 The career professionals at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, led by Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, refused, as Bove’s plan was a perversion of the government’s power to prosecute for partisan political ends. New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025
Noun
Just days prior, Julani’s forces massacred between 800 and 2,000 Alawite and Christian civilians during a brutal crackdown on anti-government partisans along the coast. Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 11 Mar. 2025 Each member of the trio has its partisans, with preference usually coming down to where the car was first encountered, whether that be an early Gran Turismo game (the R32), Import Tuner magazine (R33), or FF4 (R34). Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for partisan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for partisan
Adjective
  • Schopper's store was allegedly selling two human skull fragments for $90, a human clavicle and scapula for $90, a human rib for $35, a human vertebrae for $35 and a partial human skull for $600, the affidavit said.
    Megan Forrester, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Karim, 29, says snail harvesting has proved to be profitable, beneficial and much in demand -- one of many Tunisians who say the mollusks are providing a partial solution to the nation's 40% youth unemployment rate.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • He was often ridiculed by contemporaries, including renowned adherents of the Nation of Islam such as Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, as being too actively focused on integration and too passively focused on Black empowerment, critiques of the Black political establishment that persist today.
    Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Though the government's counter-offensive was able to largely contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in the western coastal region.
    arkansasonline.com, arkansasonline.com, 11 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Vieira, elected as an anti-corruption crusader, had supported Bolsonaro in 2018.
    Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
  • The free market crusader transferred $5.3 billion of Koch, Inc.'s nonvoting stock to a pair of nonprofits with fewer restrictions on lobbying and politics than traditional charities from 2020 to 2022.
    Sylvan Lebrun, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 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
  • Home to one of the world’s largest refugee populations – most of them from Afghanistan – Pakistan has not always welcomed the foreigners, subjecting them to hostile living conditions and threatening deportation over the years.
    Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Andreas typically waits until there have been three instances of potential hostile communication before asking her friend or colleague if everything is OK.
    Angela Haupt, Time, 28 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • In lieu of discussions of who is best for the role artistically, the question becomes who will sell more tickets (Ivy has 3 million followers but TikTok influencers rally around Chloe) and create a less toxic workplace.
    Christian Lewis, Variety, 11 Apr. 2025
  • According to Rolling Stone, the singer’s public profile is one of the eight followers, as well as SZA, producer Michael Uzowuru, singer girlsweetvoiced and audio engineer Sean Matsukawa.
    DeMicia Inman, VIBE.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Macron may be a quintessential Europeanist, but Marine Le Pen, who could very well win the 2027 presidential election, is an arch nationalist who doesn't care a lick about the European political community and is dead set against loaning France's nuclear weapons to other countries.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
  • The term was first popularized in the late 1880s by a German nationalist named Wilhelm Marr.
    Asaf Elia-Shalev, Sun Sentinel, 17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • These factors can all contribute to MMD symptoms, such as blind spots, distorted vision, or vision loss.101112 Risk Factors People with high (severe) myopia have the highest risk of MMD, though not everyone with high myopia will develop the condition.
    Lindsay Curtis, Health, 6 Apr. 2025
  • These disorders are subdivided into courtship disorders, which resemble distorted components of human courtship behavior (voyeuristic disorder, exhibitionistic disorder, and frotteuristic disorder), and algolagnic disorders, which involve pain and suffering.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Partisan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/partisan. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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