extremists
Those beyond moderation
Extremists are people who hold radical political, religious, or ideological views far outside the mainstream.
The term implies not just strong beliefs but willingness to pursue them through uncompromising or violent means: The group was infiltrated by extremists.
Whether someone counts as an extremist depends heavily on the speaker's own position—one person's extremist is another's freedom fighter.
Obsessive believers
- zealotsFanatical cause followers
- fundamentalistsRigid interpreters of doctrine
- hardlinersUncompromising faction members
- dogmatistsBelievers in fixed principles
purists · absolutists · partisans · sectarians · doctrinaires · ideologues · propagandists · demagogues
Rigid interpreters of doctrine
- jihadistsReligious war combatants
- crusadersPassionate advocates for change
- evangelicalsConversion-focused Protestant Christians
- zealotsFanatical cause followers
theocrats · cultists · apocalyptic · millenarians · sectarians · fanatics · martyrs · devout
Advocates for fundamental change
- outliersExtreme data points
- marginalBarely adequate
- peripheralExternal computer add-on
- splinterThin sharp fragment
dissidents · separatists · nonconformists · renegades · heretics · outcasts · pariahs · militants
Those using violence politically
- insurgentsThose fighting established authority
- guerrillasIrregular combatants, unconventional warfare
- paramilitariesUnofficial armed organized groups
- bombersAircraft designed for airstrikes
attackers · fighters · combatants · violent · armed · radicalized · cell · sleeper
fanatics
Obsessive believers
- zealotsFanatical cause followers
- fundamentalistsRigid interpreters of doctrine
- hardlinersUncompromising faction members
dogmatists · purists · absolutists · partisans · sectarians · doctrinaires · ideologues · propagandists · demagogues · chauvinists
fundamentalists
Rigid interpreters of doctrine
- jihadistsReligious war combatants
- crusadersPassionate advocates for change
- evangelicalsConversion-focused Protestant Christians
zealots · theocrats · cultists · apocalyptic · millenarians · sectarians · fanatics · martyrs · devout · orthodox
radicals
Advocates for fundamental change
- outliersExtreme data points
- marginalBarely adequate
- peripheralExternal computer add-on
splinter · dissidents · separatists · nonconformists · renegades · heretics · outcasts · pariahs · militants · agitators
terrorists
Those using violence politically
- insurgentsThose fighting established authority
- guerrillasIrregular combatants, unconventional warfare
- paramilitariesUnofficial armed organized groups
bombers · attackers · fighters · combatants · violent · armed · radicalized · cell · sleeper · recruitment
- extremistsfanatics, fanatic, radicals, radical, zealot
- RwandaKigali, Hutu, Tutsi, Rwandan Genocide, 1994
- groupsteam, teams, group, club, clubs
- Political Groupsfaction, Republican Party, caucus, Democratic Party, wing
- polarizationpolarizer, divide, polarized light, divisiveness, polarizing filter
- extremismfanaticism, radicalism, radicalization, radicals, radical
extremistsmoderates
Reduces intensity or extremity
centrists · middle-of-the-roaders · pragmatists · fence-sitters · mainstream
extremistsgradualists
Advocates of slow change
reformists · evolutionists · pragmatists · traditionalists · realists
extremistsinstitutionalists
Advocates for formal structures
traditionalists · conformists · insiders · old guard · pillars of society
- political extremismIdeology at outer fringes
- religious extremismRadical ideology driven by faith
- extremist ideologyBelief system rejecting compromise
- extremist groupsFactions advocating drastic positions
- violent extremismIdeology-driven harm and terror