adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A Fabian socialist, a gradualist socialist; a member of the Fabian Society.
2. 2
   a member of the Fabian Society in Britain wordnet

Adjective

1. 1
   Pertaining to or reminiscent of Roman general Fabius Maximus, whose tactics against Hannibal during the Second Punic War famously consisted of delaying or avoiding combat, focusing instead on weakening the enemy by cutting off supply lines.

   "Hood complained behind his commander's back to Richmond of Johnston's Fabian strategy."

2. 2
   Alternative form of Fabian. alt-of, alternative
3. 3
   Advocating that social reforms be reached through a series of gradual and moderate stages rather than sudden revolution; specifically, relating to the Fabian Society, a British socialist society advocating reformist socialism.
4. 4
   Cautious; dilatory; avoiding a decisive contest. broadly

Adjective

1. 1
   using cautious slow strategy to wear down opposition; avoiding direct confrontation wordnet
2. 2
   of or relating to Fabianism wordnet

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A male given name from Latin. rare
2. 2
   A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms

cautiouscollectivistcollectivisticcorrectiveemendatoryextremist

Example

More examples

"Fabian, are you going with us to the pool on Saturday afternoon?"

Etymology

From Latin Fabiānus (“belonging to Fabius”), derived from Fabius + -ānus.

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