separatist

/ˈsɛpərədəst/

/ˈsɛprɪtɪst/

Other forms: separatists

A separatist is someone who believes certain groups of people should live independently from the larger group. Often religious separatists form new denominations after they break off from a church.

Separatists are typically members of a minority group that wishes to protect itself or its identity from the majority group. There are political separatist movements all around the world, including Catalan separatists in Spain, who believe that Catalonia should be an independent nation, and French-Canadian separatists in Quebec.

Definitions of separatist

1. noun

   an advocate of secession or separation from a larger group (such as an established church or a national union)
   synonyms: separationist

   types:

   white separatist

   someone who advocates a society in which white people live separately from members of other races

   type of:

   advocate, advocator, exponent, proponent

   a person who pleads for a person, cause, or idea
2. adjective

   having separated or advocating separation from another entity or policy or attitude
   synonyms: breakaway, fissiparous

   independent

   free from external control and constraint