max·i·mal·ist (m k s -m-l st)n. One who advocates direct or radical action to secure a social or political goal in its entirety: "the maximalists . . . who want the undivided land" (Arthur Hertzberg). [Russian maksimalist, name applied in 1906 to an extreme splinter group of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party, ultimately from Latin maximum, maximum; see maximum.] max i·mal·ist adj. |
maximalist [ˈmæksɪməlɪst]
n
a person who favours direct action to achieve all his goals and rejects compromise
Maximalist [ˈmæksɪməlɪst]
n (in early 20th-century Russia)
1. (Historical Terms) (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a member of the radical faction of Social Revolutionaries that supported terrorism against the tsarist regime and advocated a short period of postrevolutionary working-class dictatorship
2. (Historical Terms) (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a less common name for a Bolshevik Compare Minimalist
[from French, a translation of Russian; see Bolshevik]
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