noun / adjective

dissident

DIS-ih-duhnt/ˈdɪsɪdənt/

Publicly opposing official authority or prevailing views, or a person who does so.

The dissident openly criticizes the government's restrictions on free speech.

A lone woman openly protests a police barricade in public, raising a defiant fist toward the officer blocking access while two bystanders watch.

Etymology

disLatinapart

+sidLatinsit

+entLatinpresent participle ending

The literal image is someone “sitting apart,” which became a way to express disagreement or nonconformity. In political use, a dissident stands apart from prevailing policy or authority.

In context

The Cold War27:16

The West lauds the dissident, those who stood up to the regime and more often than not paid a tremendous price

Shostakovich: From Dissident Musician to State Apparatchik

More examples

Dissident lawmakers publicly challenge their party's new policy.
The government imprisons dissidents who demand free elections.
The journal welcomes dissident views that challenge the scientific consensus.

Forms

dissident · dissidents

dissidence noun — Public opposition to authority or prevailing views.

Similar words

dissenter: Dissenter emphasizes disagreement, which need not be publicly expressed.
rebel: Rebel suggests active resistance, sometimes involving force or violence.
nonconformist: Nonconformist rejects social conventions, not necessarily official authority.