RADICALS Synonyms: 30 Similar and Opposite Words

radicals

noun

plural of radical

as in revolutionaries

a person who favors rapid and sweeping changes especially in laws and methods of government radicals staged large, violent protests in the hopes of toppling the government

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of radicals Solar ultraviolet photons break apart bonds in molecules, creating radicals, which oxidize VOCs. — Michael A. Robinson, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026 Political radicals have found purchase in Democratic primaries in part because of disgust with our present system of capitalist greed, self-dealing and multi-card monte with all cards in the president du jour’s hands. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026 During the nineteenth century, an older form of abolitionism was led by Black radicals. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 In the early days of the republic, there were many radicals and reformers who shared my suspicion that patriotism was an evasion, substituting songs and speeches about liberty for the reality. — Dominic Erdozain, Time, 3 July 2026 American Muslims for Palestine has repeatedly come under fire over leading members’ past ties to foreign terrorists, though the group denies supporting such radicals. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 26 June 2026 The one in which his tiny team of negotiators surrendered to the radicals ruling that luckless nation. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2026 The actor got his start on Family Ties, an '80s sitcom about the Keaton family, whose matriarch and patriarch were once 1960s radicals now attempting to raise their Reagan-era children in suburbia. — Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026 Increasingly, however, that tent seems to have room for radicals and ideological extremists while pushing out Democrats who think independently. — Doug Friednash, Denver Post, 3 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for radicals

Noun

Centrist Democrats are not socialists, not revolutionaries, and not disposed to blame Zionist conspiracies for every trouble in American life, including police brutality and urban gentrification.

— David Frum, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2026
To make matters worse, ten days later, revolutionaries stormed the Bastille.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of revolutionaries

Noun

In a Michigan swing district just north of Detroit, Democratic congressional candidate Christina Hines said voters are far more worried about affording fuel, groceries and healthcare than about left-wing extremists gaining ground in her party.

— Steve Peoples, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a campaign of mass murder orchestrated by Hutu extremists.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of extremists

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radicalness

radicals

radii

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“Radicals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/radicals. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of radicals

noun

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