Meanings
plural dissentients
- A dissenter.
Naturally, the wisdom of striking to remedy grievances was questioned; but there were few dissentients from the view that the Government and B.T.C. are mishandling the human relations involved.
1962 November, “Talking of Trains: The one-day strike”, in Modern Railways, page 2911 more example
The vote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades. There were only four dissentients, the three dogs and the cat, who was afterwards discovered to have voted on both sides.
1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
comparative more dissentient · superlative most dissentient
- Dissenting; of a different opinion.
A dissentient opinion came from the aunt.
1914, Saki, ‘The Story-teller’, Beasts and Superbeasts, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 3542 more examples
Moody and Sankey had sung their way into every dissentient chapel, and Boshy appreciated their words thoroughly, and sang them to a wrong tune incessantly.
1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 198When the news spread through the warren, there was not a dissentient voice.
1996, Richard Adams, Tales from Watership DownSynonyms: dissentious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDissenting; of a different opinion.
More synonyms by meaning
adjective(of Catholics) refusing to attend services of the Church of England
adjectivedisagreeing, especially with a majority
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindissentiēns“dissenting”
- Englishdissentient
From the Latin dissentiēns (“dissenting”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
dissentient. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissentient
“dissentient.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissentient. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dissentient,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dissentient.
Source: dissentient on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.