pac·i·fist
ˈpa-sə-fist 
plural pacifists
: an adherent to pacifism : someone who opposes war or violence as a means of settling disputes
… the attack inflamed the American public and turned isolationists and pacifists into gung-ho patriots hot for revenge.—
Evan Thomas
Evan ThomasNot every woman will or should be a pacifist; and to advance in the Senate and into the White House, women will have to convince the voters that they're prepared to go to war.—Wendy Kaminer
Wendy Kaminer
variants
or pacifistic
1
: of, relating to, or characteristic of pacifism or pacifists
distributing pacifist literature
2
: strongly and actively opposed to conflict and especially war
pacifist beliefs
Examples of pacifist in a Sentence
Noun
a committed pacifist, Gandhi succeeded in bringing about Indian independence using only nonviolence
Adjective
the newspaper's editorial board has clearly staked out a pacifist position on the current conflict
Recent Examples on the Web
Iveta Silova, The Conversation, 9 Apr. 2025
Marchand has crossed lines by licking players, or repeatedly punching a hockey pacifist like Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin in a final series.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2025
Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025
On the other, Yehuda attempts to walk a fragile moral line as a knowing political pawn in a greater chess game — whose intended outcome is war — while attempting to retain his pacifist beliefs by holding bad apples to account, if not the greater structures at play.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pacifist
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Noun
Even before seizing national power in 1933, the Nazi Party was closely monitoring German universities through nationalist student groups and sympathetic faculty, flagging professors deemed politically unreliable – particularly Jews, Marxists, liberals and pacifists.
—Iveta Silova, The Conversation, 9 Apr. 2025
Marchand has crossed lines by licking players, or repeatedly punching a hockey pacifist like Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin in a final series.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2025
Adjective
Meanwhile, a visiting company of the pacifist fake Irish Travelers called the Tuatha’an have sought refuge in the village too, and Perrin’s counting on these non-fighters to run the town’s children to safety.
—Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025
On the other, Yehuda attempts to walk a fragile moral line as a knowing political pawn in a greater chess game — whose intended outcome is war — while attempting to retain his pacifist beliefs by holding bad apples to account, if not the greater structures at play.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pacifist
Cite this Entry
“Pacifist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacifist. Accessed 19 Apr. 2025.
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