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reformer

Other forms: reformers

Definitions of reformer
  1. noun
    a disputant who advocates reform
    synonyms: crusader, meliorist, reformist, social reformer
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    examples:
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    Anthony Comstock
    United States reformer who led moral crusades against art and literature that he considered obscene (1844-1915)
    Dorothea Lynde Dix
    United States social reformer who pioneered in the reform of prisons and in the treatment of the mentally ill; superintended women army nurses during the American Civil War (1802-1887)
    John Huss
    Czechoslovakian religious reformer who anticipated the Reformation; he questioned the infallibility of the Catholic Church was excommunicated (1409) for attacking the corruption of the clergy; he was burned at the stake (1372-1415)
    Robert Owen
    Welsh industrialist and social reformer who founded cooperative communities (1771-1858)
    Girolamo Savonarola
    Italian religious and political reformer; a Dominican friar in Florence who preached against sin and corruption and gained a large following; he expelled the Medici from Florence but was later excommunicated and executed for criticizing the Pope (1452-1498)
    Francis Everett Townsend
    United States social reformer who proposed an old-age pension sponsored by the federal government; his plan was a precursor to Social Security (1867-1960)
    John Wilkes
    English reformer who published attacks on George III and supported the rights of the American colonists (1727-1797)
    types:
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    abolitionist, emancipationist
    a reformer who favors abolishing slavery
    birth-control campaigner, birth-control reformer
    a social reformer who advocates birth control and family planning
    Chartist
    a 19th century English reformer who advocated better social and economic conditions for working people
    civil rights activist, civil rights leader, civil rights worker
    a leader of the political movement dedicated to securing equal opportunity for members of minority groups
    demonstrator, protester
    someone who participates in a public display of group feeling
    dry, prohibitionist
    a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages
    conservationist, environmentalist
    someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution
    feminist, libber, women's liberationist, women's rightist
    a supporter of feminism
    flower child, hippie, hippy, hipster
    someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle
    freedom fighter, insurgent, insurrectionist, rebel
    a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
    activist, militant
    a reformer who works to achieve social or political change
    non-resistant, passive resister
    a reformer who believes in passive resistance
    preservationist
    someone who advocates the preservation of historical sites or endangered species or natural areas
    Utopian
    an idealistic (but usually impractical) social reformer
    Black Muslim
    an activist member of a largely American group of Blacks called the Nation of Islam
    Black Panther
    a member of the Black Panthers political party
    counterdemonstrator
    someone who demonstrates in opposition to another demonstration
    Green
    an environmentalist who belongs to the Green Party
    freedom rider
    one of an interracial group of civil rights activists who rode buses through parts of the South in order to protest racial segregation
    mutineer
    someone who is openly rebellious and refuses to obey authorities (especially seamen or soldiers)
    picket
    a protester posted by a labor organization outside a place of work
    suffragette
    a woman advocate of women's right to vote (especially a militant advocate in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century)
    tree hugger
    derogatory term for environmentalists who support restrictions on the logging industry and the preservation of forests
    Young Turk
    a member of one or more of the insurgent groups in Turkey in the late 19th century who rebelled against the absolutism of Ottoman rule
    type of:
    controversialist, disputant, eristic
    a person who disputes; who is good at or enjoys controversy
  2. noun
    an apparatus that reforms the molecular structure of hydrocarbons to produce richer fuel
    “a catalytic reformer
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    type of:
    apparatus, setup
    equipment designed to serve a specific function
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