Conformist
Meaning
A person who adopts the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of a group to fit in, often at the expense of their own individuality.
Origin
The journey of "conformist" as a distinct label for someone who readily blends into the crowd really picks up speed in the mid-20th century. While the act of "conforming"—derived from the Latin conformare, meaning "to form together"—has been part of human experience forever, the rise of mass society and suburban life after World War II brought a new spotlight onto the pressure to fit in. Suddenly, psychologists and sociologists were deeply studying the power of groupthink, making "the conformist" a potent, often critical, shorthand for someone who sacrificed their individuality for the sake of social acceptance. It became a sharp, modern critique of those who followed the herd without question, embodying the era's growing anxieties about losing oneself in the collective.
Examples
- The new employee quickly became a conformist, always agreeing with the manager's ideas during meetings.
- She refused to be a conformist, choosing instead to wear unique clothes and express unconventional opinions.