advocator

ad·vo·cate

A0107000 (ăd′və-kāt′)v. ad·vo·cat·ed, ad·vo·cat·ing, ad·vo·cates v.tr. To speak, plead, or argue in favor of: advocate a vegan diet. See Synonyms at support.v.intr. Usage Problem To act as an advocate: advocated for her patients; advocated for more stringent crime laws.n. (-kĭt)1. One that argues for a cause; a supporter or defender: an advocate of civil rights.2. One that pleads in another's behalf; an intercessor: advocates for abused children and spouses.3. A lawyer.

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[From Middle English advocat, lawyer, from Old French advocat, from Latin advocātus, past participle of advocāre, to summon for counsel : ad-, ad- + vocāre, to call; see wek^w- in Indo-European roots.]

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ad′vo·ca′tion n.ad′vo·ca′tive, ad·voc′a·to′ry (ăd-vŏk′ə-tôr′ē, ăd′və-kə-) adj.ad′vo·ca′tor n.Usage Note: The standard form of the verb advocate is transitive, meaning "endorse" or "argue for," as in The teacher advocated a new educational technique, which was accepted by 85 percent of the Usage Panel in our 2014 survey. Many readers balk when the verb is used to express the same meaning in an intransitive form with the preposition for: less than half (45 percent) of the Panel approved of The teacher advocated for a new educational technique. The intransitive is more acceptable, however, when the object of for is the beneficiary of the advocacy rather than the idea or action being advocated: two-thirds of the Panel approved The teacher advocated for her at-risk students. A careful writer will use transitive advocate in sentences indicating the idea or action, restricting the intransitive to sentences indicating the beneficiaries.

advocator

(ˈædvəˌkeɪtə) nformal a person who advocates

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

advocator - a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an ideaadvocate, exponent, proponentindividual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do"apologist, justifier, vindicator - a person who argues to defend or justify some policy or institution; "an apologist for capital punishment"constitutionalist - an advocate of constitutional governmentDarwinian - an advocate of Darwinismpopulist, democrat - an advocate of democratic principlesfederalist - an advocate of federalismGnostic - an advocate of Gnosticismhumanist, humanitarian - an advocate of the principles of humanism; someone concerned with the interests and welfare of humansideologist, ideologue - an advocate of some ideologyinternationalist - an advocate of internationalismirredentist, irridentist - an advocate of irredentismisolationist - an advocate of isolationism in international affairsJansenist - an advocate of Jansenismlibertarian - an advocate of libertarianismMaoist - an advocate of MaoismMarxist - an advocate of Marxismnationalist - an advocate of national independence of or a strong national governmentneoclassicist - an advocate of neoclassicismneutralist - an advocate of neutrality in international affairsnullifier - an advocate of nullification; someone who believes that a state can resist federal lawsdrumbeater, partisan, zealot - a fervent and even militant proponent of somethingpartitionist - an advocate of partitioning a countryPlatonist - an advocate of Platonismpro-lifer - an advocate of full legal protection for embryos and fetuses; someone opposed to legalized induced abortionpresenter, sponsor - an advocate who presents a person (as for an award or a degree or an introduction etc.)protectionist - an advocate of protectionismrepublican - an advocate of a republic (usually in opposition to a monarchy)ritualist - an advocate of strict observance of ritualistic formsruralist - an advocate of rural livingsecessionist - an advocate of secessionismsecularist - an advocate of secularism; someone who believes that religion should be excluded from government and educationseparationist, separatist - an advocate of secession or separation from a larger group (such as an established church or a national union)spokesperson, representative, interpreter, voice - an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose; "the meeting was attended by spokespersons for all the major organs of government"suffragist - an advocate of the extension of voting rights (especially to women)admirer, booster, protagonist, supporter, champion, friend - a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of the library"supremacist - a person who advocates the supremacy of some particular group or race over all othersteleologist - advocate of teleologyThatcherite - an advocate of Thatcherismunilateralist - an advocate of unilateralism