A revolutionary, when used as a noun, is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of
revolution. The term is usually applied to
political revolutionaries or
social revolutionaries, and less frequently used to revolutionary
scientists,
inventors, and
artists. In the political context, the term "revolutionary" is often used in contrast to the term
reformist. While a revolutionary is someone who supports abrupt change, a reformist is someone who supports more gradual change. The word "recalcitrant" is relavitely synonymous. When used as an adjective, revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. Political revolutionaries may be classified in two ways:According to the goals of the revolution they propose. Usually, these goals are part of a certain
ideology. In theory, each ideology could generate its own brand of revolutionaries. In practice, most political revolutionaries have been either
liberals,
nationalists,
socialists,
communists or
anarchists.According to the methods they propose to use. This divides revolutionaries in two broad groups: Those who advocate a
violent revolution, and those who are
pacifists. Perhaps the best known examples of these two types of revolutionaries are
Che Guevara and
Mahatma Gandhi, respectively.
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revolutionist
\rev`o*lu"tion*ist\, n. one engaged in effecting a change of government; a favorer of revolution.
revolutionist
n : a radical supporter of political or social revolution [syn: revolutionary, subversive, subverter]
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