Meaning & use
federalist
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Someone who favors a political system in which a central government and regional governments share power.
Grammar: Countable and written with a small letter in this general sense: she is a committed federalist.
Patterns
- a federalist about something
As a federalist, he wants more decisions made by the states and fewer by the capital.
Many European federalists dream of a closer union among member countries.
The party's leader is a strong federalist who supports power-sharing with the provinces.
nouncountable
A person in the early United States who backed a strong national government and supported the Constitution; a Federalist.
Grammar: Usually capitalized in this historical sense: Alexander Hamilton was a leading Federalist.
Patterns
- a Federalist leader
Hamilton and Madison, both Federalists, wrote essays urging voters to approve the Constitution.
The Federalists argued that a stronger central government was needed after the Revolution.
John Adams was the only Federalist to become president.
Word forms
| plural | federalists |
|---|
Common combinations
- committed federalist
- She is a committed federalist who wants stronger regional councils.
- the Federalist Papers
- Students read the Federalist Papers in history class.
- Federalist Party
- The Federalist Party faded after the early 1800s.
- European federalist
- A European federalist argued for a shared defense force.
- leading federalist
- He was a leading federalist during the ratification debates.
Synonyms and how they differ
- centralist
- A centralist wants power gathered in one central authority, which is close to the opposite of the general federalist idea.
- unionist
- A unionist supports keeping a union together, which may or may not involve sharing power with regions.
- nationalist
- A nationalist puts the interests of one nation first, while a federalist is mainly concerned with how power is divided.
Opposites
Word family
- federalism noun
- a system dividing power between central and regional governments
- federal adjective
- relating to a central government in a federation
- federation noun
- a group of states under a central authority
- federate verb
- to join together into a federation
- anti-federalist noun
- someone who opposed a strong central government
Commonly confused: federalist or federal? federalist or federation?
federalist vs federal
Federal is an adjective for the system or government, while a federalist is a person who supports that system.
federalist vs federation
A federation is a group of states or organizations united under a central body, not a person who believes in it.
Practice
Which sentence uses federalist in its general sense?
Choose one answer.
A federalist in the general sense supports a system that shares power between levels of government. The other three refer to the historical Federalists in early America.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “federalist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.