Meanings
plural pacifists · alternative pacificist
- One who loves, supports, or favours peace.
Mahatma Gandhi was one of the world's most famous pacifists.
Synonyms: dove, Gandhist · Antonyms: bellicist, hawk, militarist
- One who is anti-war.
No matter what pacifist "flubdubs and flapdoodle mollycoddles" might say, the President [Teddy Roosevelt] knew that if there were a general war then America could well be drawn into it.
2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential CourageSynonyms: dove, Gandhist · Antonyms: bellicist, hawk, militarist
- One who both abstains from inflicting violence on others and opposes others doing so.
Synonyms: dove, Gandhist · Antonyms: bellicist, hawk, militarist
comparative more pacifist · superlative most pacifist · alternative pacificist
- Of or relating to pacifism; pacifistic.
Therefore, because Hauerwas is a United Methodist, a church that is clearly not pacifist even if it is not clear what it is, he is not (yet) a pacifist.
2010, Charles R. Pinches, Kelly S. Johnson, Charles M. Collier, Unsettling Arguments: A Festschrift on the Occasion of Stanley Hauerwas's 70th Birthday, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 129Synonyms: dovish, pacific, anti-bellicist, dovelike, dovish, irenic, irenical, non-violent
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who prefers to avoid violence in daily life.
nounOne who both abstains from inflicting violence on others and opposes others doing so.
adjectiveOf or relating to pacifism; pacifistic.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveopposed to war
nounsomeone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchpacifiste
- Englishpacifist
From French pacifiste, equivalent to pacific + -ist.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُسَالِم, مُسَالِمَة
- مُسَالِم (musālim)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- مُسَالِمَة (musālima)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Bulgarian пацифи́ст, пацифи́стка
- пацифи́ст (pacifíst)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- пацифи́стка (pacifístka)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Catalan pacifista
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Chinese Mandarin 和平主義者 /和平主义者
- 和平主義者 /和平主义者 (hépíngzhǔyìzhě)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Czech pacifista, pacifistka
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifistkaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Danish pacifist
- pacifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Dutch vredestrijder, pacifist
- vredestrijderone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- pacifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifisteone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- vredestrijderone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Esperanto pacifisto
- pacifistoone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Estonian patsifist
- patsifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Finnish pasifisti, pasifisti
- pasifistione who avoids violence
- pasifistione who opposes violence and is anti-war
- pasifistione who loves, supports, or favours peace
French pacifiste
- pacifisteone who loves, supports, or favours peace
German Kriegsgegner, Kriegsgegnerin
- Kriegsgegnerone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- Kriegsgegnerinone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- Pazifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- Pazifistinone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Greek ειρηνιστής, ειρηνιστής
- ειρηνιστής (eirinistís)one who avoids violence
- ειρηνιστής (eirinistís)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- ειρηνιστής (eirinistís)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- ειρηνίστρια (eirinístria)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- πασιφιστής (pasifistís)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- πασιφίστρια (pasifístria)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Hebrew פַּצִיפִיסט
- פַּצִיפִיסט (patsifíst)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Hindi शांतिवादी, शान्तिवादी
- शांतिवादी (śāntivādī)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- शान्तिवादी (śāntivādī)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Hungarian pacifista
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Icelandic friðarsinni
- friðarsinnione who loves, supports, or favours peace
Irish síochánaí, síochánaí
- síochánaíone who avoids violence
- síochánaíone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- síochánaíone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Italian pacifista, pacifista
- pacifistaone who avoids violence
- pacifistaone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Japanese 穏健派, 平和主義者
- 穏健派 (onkenha)one who avoids violence
- 平和主義者 (heiwashugisha)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- 鳩派 (hatoha)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- 平和主義者 (heiwashugisha)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- 鳩派 (hatoha)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Korean 평화주의자
- 평화주의자 (pyeonghwajuuija)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Latin imbellis
- imbellisone who avoids violence
Latvian pacifists, pacifiste
- pacifistsone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifisteone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Lithuanian pacifistas, pacifistė
- pacifistasone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifistėone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Māori kaiwhakamārie
- kaiwhakamārieone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Norwegian Bokmål pasifist
- pasifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Persian صلحجو, صلحطلب
- صلحجو (solh-ju)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- صلحطلب (solh-talab)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Polish pacyfista, pacyfistka
- pacyfistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacyfistkaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Portuguese pacifista, pacifista
- pacifistaone who avoids violence
- pacifistaone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Romanian pacifist, pacifistă
- pacifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifistăone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Russian пацифи́ст, пацифи́стка
- пацифи́ст (pacifíst)one who avoids violence
- пацифи́стка (pacifístka)one who avoids violence
- миролю́б (miroljúb)one who avoids violence
- пацифи́ст (pacifíst)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- пацифи́стка (pacifístka)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- миролю́б (miroljúb)one who opposes violence and is anti-war
- пацифи́ст (pacifíst)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- пацифи́стка (pacifístka)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- миролю́б (miroljúb)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Slovak pacifista, pacifistka
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
- pacifistkaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Spanish pacifista
- pacifistaone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Swedish pacifist, pacifist
- pacifistone who avoids violence
- pacifistone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- pacifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Turkish pasifist
- pasifistone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Ukrainian пацифі́ст, пацифі́стка
- пацифі́ст (pacyfíst)one who avoids violence
- пацифі́стка (pacyfístka)one who avoids violence
- миролю́бець (myroljúbecʹ)one who avoids violence
- пацифі́ст (pacyfíst)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- пацифі́стка (pacyfístka)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
- миролю́бець (myroljúbecʹ)one who loves, supports, or favours peace
Welsh heddychwr, heddychwr
- heddychwrone who opposes violence and is anti-war
- heddychwrone who loves, supports, or favours peace
Cite this entry
pacifist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacifist
“pacifist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacifist. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pacifist,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacifist.
Source: pacifist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.