Federalist

//ˈfɛdəɹəlˌɪst// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Advocate of federalism.
  2. 2
    A member of the Federalist Party, an 18th- and 19th-century conservative, liberal US political party which was one of two major parties under the First Party System. US, historical

    "No good Federalist has at present any wish to shake the fair and stately pillars of its fabric, and o'er its lamented ruins to erect the frightful columns of uncouth monarchy."

  3. 3
    an advocate of federalism wordnet
  4. 4
    Supporter of the view that the province of Québec should remain within the Canadian federal system; an opponent of Québec‐based separatism or sovereigns. Canada
  5. 5
    a member of a former political party in the United States that favored a strong centralized federal government wordnet
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  1. 6
    A covenantalist.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to federalism, or its advocates. not-comparable

Synonyms

All synonyms
absolutearistocraticauthoritarianautocraticautonomousbureaucratic

Example

More examples

"Federalist leaders denounced Jefferson's policy."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From federal + -ist.

Etymology 2

From federal + -ist, formed in contrast with earlier anti-federalist.

Related phrases

Federalist PartyNew Federalistanti-federalistpro-federalistquasi-federalist

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.