Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old French
Origin: -iste, from Latin -ista, -istes, from Greek -istes, from verbs ending in -izein; -IZE

-ist

 suffix
     
-ist
1 [in nouns] someone who believes in a particular religion or set of principles or ideas:
a Buddhist
an atheist
a Scottish Nationalist
2 [in adjectives] relating to or showing a particular political or religious belief:
her socialist views
rightist parties (=political parties with right-wing opinions)
3 [in nouns] someone who studies a particular subject, plays a particular instrument, or does a particular type of work:
a linguist (=someone who studies or learns languages)
a novelist (=someone who writes novels )
a guitarist (=someone who plays the guitar)
a machinist (=someone who operates a machine)
 ➔ -ologist
4 [in adjectives]XX treating people unfairly because of something:
a very sexist remark (=making unfair differences between men and women)
5 [in nouns]XX someone who treats people unfairly because of something:
They're a bunch of racists.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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