filibuster
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filibuster
- /ˈfɪlɪbʌstə(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈfɪləˌbəstər/ US
- /ˈfɪləbʌstɚ/ US
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Spanish filibustero (“pirate”), from French flibustier, ultimately from Dutch vrijbuiter (“freebooter”), from vrij (“free”) + buit (“booty”) + -er (“agent”). The alteration in the first syllable in French is due to the word's being somewhat conflated with vlieboot (“light, flat-bottomed cargo vessel with two or three masts”) when it was borrowed into French or another language from Dutch. The word is cognate and analogous to English freebooter.
noun filibusters · fillibuster
-
A mercenary soldier; a freebooter; specifically, a mercenary who travelled illegally in an organized group from the United States to a country in Central America or the Spanish West Indies in the mid-19th century seeking economic and political benefits through armed force.
These duties involved prodigious physical and mental exertion, in a climate deadly to Europeans. They also involved much voyaging in waters haunted by filibusters and buccaneers. But nothing appears to daunt Labat. As for the filibusters, he becomes their comrade and personal friend;—he even becomes
Similar: adventurer, bravo, condottiere, filibuster, freebooter, freelance, free companion, hired gun, hireling, hit man, merc, mercenary
-
A tactic (such as giving long, often irrelevant speeches) employed to delay the proceedings of, or the making of a decision by, a legislative body, particularly the United States Senate.
No longer do filibustering Senators take the floor and speak until they are physically unable to filibuster any longer. Now, a filibuster typically begins when a Senator or group of Senators signals their intent to filibuster – which can be done by a private conversation with the majority leader or
Opposite: cloture
-
A member of a legislative body causing such an obstruction.
Similar: filibusterer
verb filibusters · filibustering · filibustered · fillibuster
- To take part in a private military action in a foreign country. According to U.S. law, filibustering was a violation of the Neutrality Law of 1818, which prohibited the organization within the United States of any armed force that intended to attack a friendly foreign power. The American government attempted, through the enforcement of this law, to prevent its c
- To use obstructionist tactics in a legislative body. But as the case had dragged on interminably, and he believed, and the world believed, and the Canadians themselves knew, that they intended to filibuster and postpone as long as possible, he took the common-sense way to a settlement.
Translations
Every language
noun freebooter
| Español | filibustero |
|---|---|
| Português | flibusteiro |
| Français | flibustier |
| Deutsch | Freibeuter |
| Italiano | filibustiere |
| Ελληνικά | κουρσάρος koursáros, πειρατής peiratís |
| Русский | флибустье́р flibustʹjér, пира́т pirát, наёмник najómnik |
noun long speech given in order to delay proceedings or the making of a decision
| 한국어 | 의사 진행 방해 uisa jinhaeng banghae, 필리버스터 pillibeoseuteo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | フィリバスター firibasutā, 議事妨害 giji bōgai |
| 中文 | 冗長辯論 /冗长辩论 rǒngcháng biànlùn, 費力把事拖 /费力把事拖 fèilìbǎshìtuō, 拉布 lābù |
| Français | obstruction parlementaire |
| Deutsch | Dauerrede, Ermüdungsrede, Filibuster |
| Italiano | ostruzionismo parlamentare |
| Ελληνικά | κωλυσιεργία kolysiergía |
noun member of a legislative body causing such obstruction
| Deutsch | Dauerredner |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | κωλυσιεργός kolysiergós |
verb to use obstructionist tactics in a legislative body
| Deutsch | filibustern, Obstruktion betreiben, verschleppen, eine Verschleppungstaktik betreiben, eine Hinhaltetaktik betreiben, eine Verzögerungstaktik betreiben |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | κωλυσιεργώ kolysiergó |
Talk about this word "filibuster." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/filibuster. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. filibuster. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/filibuster "filibuster." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/filibuster.Cite this
@misc{filibuster_2026,
title = {filibuster},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/filibuster},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
