Meaning & use
protester
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Meaning
nouncountable
A person who takes part in a public action to show strong disagreement with a policy, decision, or event.
Grammar: Countable; often plural and often followed by 'against' or a modifier such as anti-war: protesters against the new law.
Patterns
- anti-war/climate protesters
- protesters marched/gathered
- police and protesters
Hundreds of protesters marched through the city centre on Saturday.
Protesters chanted slogans outside the embassy all afternoon.
The peace talks continued despite the noisy protesters outside the building.
Word forms
| plural | protesters |
|---|
Common combinations
- peaceful protesters
- The police cleared the square without harming the peaceful protesters.
- anti-war protesters
- Anti-war protesters held a candlelit vigil outside the parliament.
- protesters gathered/marched
- Protesters gathered at dawn to block the construction site.
- clash between police and protesters
- The rally ended without a clash between police and protesters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- demonstrator
- A demonstrator takes part in organized marches and rallies; protester is broader and covers anyone publicly showing objection, even informally.
- activist
- An activist campaigns for change over time in many different ways; protesting in the street is only one possible activity.
- dissenter
- A dissenter disagrees with an official opinion or decision, but dissenting can be private and does not have to involve any public action.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: protester or protestor?
protester vs protestor
Protestor is simply an accepted alternative spelling, not a different word; choose one spelling and use it consistently in your writing.
Practice
Outside the parliament, ___ demanded an immediate end to the new tax.
Choose one answer.
People demanding an end to a tax are publicly objecting, so they are protesters. Spectators only watch an event, and supporters would back the tax plan rather than demand its end.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “protester”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.