reformers

IPA/rɪˈfɔː.mər/
KK[rɪfˈɔrmɚz]IPA/rɪˈfɔːr.mɚ/

reformers — noun

  • reformerssingular
  • reformersesplural

1. a person who works to make a system, law, or organization fairer or more effecti

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who works to make a system, law, or organization fairer or more effective by changing the way it operates

Example

Brian and other education reformers pushed for smaller class sizes in public schools.

collocation: education reformers

Sayaka admired the social reformers who fought for workers' rights in the early 1900s.

collocation: social reformers

Common collocations
  • education reformers
  • social reformers
  • political reformers
  • health-care reformers
  • a group of reformers
  • a team of reformers
Synonyms
  • activist

    Broader term — an activist takes direct action for a cause, which may include protests or civil disobedience, while a reformer works through established channels

  • campaigner

    Focuses on a single issue or campaign, often over a defined period, whereas a reformer typically targets larger systemic change

  • progressive

    Describes a political outlook rather than a specific role; a progressive may support reform but is not necessarily engaged in doing the work

Antonyms
  • conservative

    Someone who prefers to keep existing systems and resist change

  • traditionalist

    Someone who upholds established customs and opposes reform

Usage Note

Often used in the plural when referring to a movement or collective effort rather than an individual. The singular form (a reformer) is common when the focus is on one person's actions.

Common Mistakes

The revolutionaries wanted to change the voting system from within the government.
The reformers wanted to change the voting system from within the government.
Reformers work inside the system to improve it; revolutionaries aim to overthrow it.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Reformer, activist, campaigner, and progressive are related but differ in scope and method. A reformer works within the existing system — through legislation, policy changes, or institutional improvements — to make it fairer or more effective. An activist takes a more hands-on, sometimes confrontational approach: organizing protests, boycotts, or public demonstrations. A campaigner is narrower in focus, dedicating time to a single cause — such as a campaigner for cleaner rivers — rather than broad systemic change. A progressive holds a political worldview that favors social change but may not actively work toward it. For example, a reformer might draft a bill to reduce class sizes, an activist might march demanding it, a campaigner might run ads urging its passage, and a progressive would vote for it.

reformeractivist ↗campaigner ↗progressive ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • a group of reformers
  • a team of reformers
  • a network of reformers
  • reformers called for
  • reformers pushed for
  • reformers argued that

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Reformer comes from the Latin verb reformare, meaning 'to shape again' (re- 'again' + formare 'to form'). It travelled into English through Old French reformer and was first used around the 14th century. By the 16th century the word was already applied to people who worked to reshape institutions, especially in religion and politics.

First known use

1526

1526, in the meaning defined at sense 1