crusader

noun

cru·​sad·​er krü-ˈsā-dər 

plural crusaders

: one who engages in a crusade: such as

a

Crusader : a person who participated in any of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to win the Holy Land from the Muslims

This is religion as the Crusaders knew it: a battle to the death for souls that if not saved will be forever lost.

—Benjamin R. Barber

Cleanliness improved during the Middle Ages—particularly after the Crusaders imported the Turkish bath.

—Winifred Gallagher

Then the church was looted by the Christian crusaders from the West, who converted it for fifty-seven years to the Roman Catholic ritual.

—Mario Salvadori

b

: a person who makes an impassioned and sustained effort to bring about social or political change

human rights crusaders

an anti-government crusader

Black women lawyers early on were in the forefront of the civil rights struggle. Many women attorneys were crusaders for the poor and needy …

—Rita E. Hauser

Synonyms

• fanatic
• ideologue
• idealogue
• militant
• partisan
• partizan
• red hot
• true believer
• zealot

Examples of crusader in a Sentence

a crusader for improved safety in coal mines

Recent Examples on the Web

Where temperance crusaders once wielded biblical rhetoric, today’s public health researchers arrive with cancer studies and statistics. —Jackie Snow, Quartz, 13 Jan. 2025

Depending on one’s politics, Gaetz could be seen as a conservative crusader or a far-right villain. —Scott Wong, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2024

One of Batman's biggest legacies though is in film, where the caped crusader has headlined almost a dozen feature length productions. —George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024

While this isn't my favorite caped crusader (that title belongs to someone in the X-Men franchise), Bruce Wayne is still pretty awesome. —Rosalind Bowling, The Tennessean, 20 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1701, in the meaning defined above