meliorist

mel·io·rism  (mly-rzm, ml--)

n.

The belief that improvement of society depends on human effort.

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[Latin melior, better; see mel-² in Indo-European roots + -ism.]

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melio·rist n.

melio·ristic adj.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

meliorist - a disputant who advocates reform crusader, reformer, reformist, social reformer controversialist, disputant, eristic - a person who disputes; who is good at or enjoys controversy abolitionist, emancipationist - a reformer who favors abolishing slavery birth-control campaigner, birth-control reformer - a social reformer who advocates birth control and family planning Chartist - a 19th century English reformer who advocated better social and economic conditions for working people civil rights activist, civil rights leader, civil rights worker - a leader of the political movement dedicated to securing equal opportunity for members of minority groups protester, demonstrator - someone who participates in a public display of group feeling dry, prohibitionist - a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages conservationist, environmentalist - someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution feminist, libber, women's liberationist, women's rightist - a supporter of feminism flower child, hippie, hippy, hipster - someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle freedom fighter, insurgent, insurrectionist, rebel - a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions) activist, militant - a militant reformer non-resistant, passive resister - a reformer who believes in passive resistance preservationist - someone who advocates the preservation of historical sites or endangered species or natural areas Utopian - an idealistic (but usually impractical) social reformer; "a Utopian believes in the ultimate perfectibility of man"