Meanings
plural Brexiteers
- UKgovernmentSomeone who supports Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.
After Ken Clarke's "Charge of Light Brigade" hit on Brexiteers in @Daily_Telegraph, Defra SoS likened to Lord Raglan in #CAP reform debate
2013 June 18, Huw Irranca-Davies, “@huw4ogmore”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 16 Nov 20165 more examples
Whether you are a Europhile or a Brexiteer, it’s hard to see what’s not to like about a market-driven initiative that aims to pull down barriers to more investment across Europe.
2015 October 4, William Wright, “A plan from Brussels where Britain can take the lead”, in The Daily Telegraph, London, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2018Denying he [David Cameron] was a "closet Brexiteer", as his former aide Steve Hilton has claimed, the PM told reporters: "I withdraw absolutely nothing I've previously said. Britain is an amazing country. We can find our way whatever the British people choose.
2016 May 27, “David Cameron: I am not a closet Brexiteer”, in The Herald, GlasgowA leading Tory Brexiteer has insisted quitting the EU does not mean the numbers of people coming to Britain will be slashed – and claimed Vote Leave never said it would.
2016 June 25, Tim Sculthorpe, “Tory Brexiteer Dan Hannan insists quitting the EU does NOT mean dramatic cuts to the number of immigrants coming to Britain”, in Daily Mail, London, archived from the original on 26 Jun 2016For Brexiteers in the UK, a free trade deal with the US was one of several promises made before and after the 2016 referendum that have failed to come to fruition.
2023 July 8, Jo Harper, “UK-US: What's happened to their free trade deal?”, in dw.com[Margaret] Thatcher was no Brexiteer. She was a strong supporter of the Single Market and thought that the [Channel] tunnel would help cement it.
2023 December 27, Christian Wolmar, “Hope springs eternal for greater use of the Channel Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 999, page 26Synonyms: Brexiter, leaver, Leaver, outer · Antonyms: Bremainer, Remainer, Remainiac, Remoaner
- UKgovernmentUsually in plural: a holder of any of the posts in the British Cabinet tasked with negotiating the country's exit from the European Union.
Completing the Three Brexiteers is Boris Johnson, the UK's new Foreign Secretary.
2016 July 14, Christian May, “May and the three Brexiteers lead Britain”, in City A.M., London5 more examples
For newspapers with only the Olympics to write about during August, the squabbling "Three Brexiteers" – the senior ministers supposedly tasked with executing the will of the British people to remove us from the European Union – came as a gift.
2016 September 7, Simon Heffer, “The Three Brexiteers”, in New Statesman, London, published 9–15 September 2016, archived from the original on 20 Oct 2018She [British Prime Minister Theresa May] urges people to get behind the team of ministers working for Brexit: David Davis, Liam Fox, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson. (It seems Patel has now been co-opted as a fourth Brexiteer.)
2016 October 2, Andrew Sparrow, “May says workers’ rights will be protected as long as she is PM – Politics live”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2017That was until she announced that Boris Johnson would have to share Chevening, the foreign secretary’s grace-and-favour country retreat, with his fellow cabinet Brexiteers, David Davis and Liam Fox.
2016 October 31, Matt Chorley, “Bluster, bickering and three Brexiteers: Stage is set for a satire made in heaven: Yes Minister creator finds comic gold among Chevening’s trio of new tenants”, in The Times, London, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2017It's worth remembering all the Three Brexiteers, who campaigned to Leave, are still in place.
2017 June 11, Anoosh Chakelian, “Government reshuffle: Who’s who in Theresa May’s new team?: While attempting to cling on to power, the Prime Minister is making some new appointments”, in New Statesman, London, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2017At the moment, our future is being decided by Theresa May’s desperate attempts to remain as prime minister (and to do this she has to kowtow to the wishes of the three Brexiteers Boris Johnson, David Davis, and Jacob Rees-Mogg). The future, therefore, is not being decided by us.
2018 August 11, Athian Akec, “As a 15-year-old youth MP, I can tell you why ignoring our young people on the final Brexit deal will be a disaster”, in The Independent, London, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2018
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone who supports Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΒρεττᾰνός (Brettănós)
- Ancient GreekΒρεττανία (Brettanía)
- LatinBritannia
- Anglo-NormanBritaine
- Middle EnglishBritayne
- EnglishBritain
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Latineō
- Latinexeō
- Latinexitus
- Middle Englishexit
- Englishexit
- EnglishBrexit
- EnglishBrexiteer
From Brexit + -eer, playing on musketeer and the novel The Three Musketeers.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Brexitbefürworter, Brexitbefürworterin
- Brexitbefürwortersomeone who supports Brexit
- Brexitbefürworterinsomeone who supports Brexit
- Brexiteersomeone who supports Brexit
- Brexiteerinsomeone who supports Brexit
Swedish brexitör
- brexitörsomeone who supports Brexit
Cite this entry
Brexiteer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brexiteer
“Brexiteer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brexiteer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Brexiteer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Brexiteer.
Source: Brexiteer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.