Meaning & use
antiwar
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Opposed to a particular war or to war and military conflict in general.
Grammar: Used before a noun: an antiwar protest, an antiwar movement. It is not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- antiwar protest
- antiwar movement
- antiwar demonstrator
Thousands of antiwar protesters marched through the capital.
The senator gave a powerful antiwar speech in Congress.
Her antiwar views made her unpopular with some voters.
Common combinations
- antiwar protest
- The antiwar protest drew people of all ages.
- antiwar movement
- The antiwar movement grew stronger during the 1960s.
- antiwar demonstration
- Police kept order at the antiwar demonstration.
- antiwar sentiment
- Antiwar sentiment was widespread after the long conflict.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pacifist
- Pacifist describes a person who rejects all violence, not just a particular war; antiwar can describe opposition to one specific conflict.
- dovish
- Dovish is used mainly in politics to describe someone who prefers negotiation over military action; antiwar is broader and more direct.
Opposites
Word family
- antiwar adjective
- The only common form; it does not have a noun or verb relative.
Commonly confused: antiwar or anti-war?
antiwar vs anti-war
Some writers use a hyphen (anti-war), but the closed form antiwar is now standard in American English.
Practice
Which sentence uses antiwar correctly?
Choose one answer.
Antiwar is an adjective used before a noun like rally or protest. It is not a verb, so options C and D are wrong, and option A uses it in a way that does not make sense with 'about the new movie'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “antiwar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.