terrorist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a radical who employs terror as a political weapon

   The terrorists were organized into independent cells.

2. 2
   noun

   A person, group, or organization that uses violent action, or the threat of violent action, to further political goals.

   Hooooly shit! That is terrible, because (1), he is not a terrorist, and (2), I do hope we have a better strategy for dealing with terrorists than flagging their credit reports and denying them their dream apartments! Hey, not in America! Not in America!

3. 3
   adj

   Of or relating to terrorism.

   2002 January 29, George Walker Bush, "2002 State of the Union Address". States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.

4. 4
   noun

   An agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France.

5. 5
   noun

   Deliberate misspelling of tourist.

Etymology

From terror + -ist. In the historical sense, after French terroriste. First used in 1794 in the Courier and Evening Gazette.