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 Adding caffeine, which mops up radicals, largely stopped the clumping, pointing to the radicals as the cause. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026 Fluorine is then released into the water as fluoride ions, while hydroxyl radicals and hydroxide ions help sever carbon-carbon bonds in the remaining molecular chains. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026 But a growing cohort of religious radicals – including Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s public security minister – advocates Jewish worship and control of the site. — Ilan Ben Zion, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Oct. 2026 Dohrn, who is the son of the longtime radicals Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers and who has taught for several years at Northwestern University, certainly has enjoyed a catbird’s seat on the culture wars of academia. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026 Hickey is the charismatic traveling salesman who preaches a distorted vision of salvation to the social misfits and leftist radicals in a dive bar in lower Manhattan, modeled on the denizens of a favorite O’Neill hangout. — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2026 Once Lamb starts publishing daily dispatches about her abduction at the hands of Indo‑Trinidadian radicals demanding a ransom, the writing is on the walls that this woman is going to die. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for radicals

Noun

But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026
In the Tenth Arrondissement of Paris, near the Canal Saint-Martin, a mural appeared, seemingly overnight, depicting the lycéens as heroic revolutionaries in a style that seemed equal parts Delacroix and Dragon Ball.

— Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of revolutionaries

Noun

Muslim students should not be expected to answer for extremists who claim to speak in the name of Islam.

— Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026
The groups similarly present themselves as armed community defenders against the government or right-wing extremists, but continue to find members who get in trouble with law enforcement.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 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 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of radicals

noun

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