Noun – Dissent
“Dissent” has Latin roots that mean “to feel or think differently.”
To dissent is to disagree: to have or show a different opinion.
“Dissent” is also a noun. Dissent is disagreement. In other words, dissent is the lack of agreement, or the act of having or showing a different opinion.
Part of speech:
both a noun (“her dissent“) and a verb (“she dissented“).
Other common forms:
Dissented, dissenting, dissenter(s).
Although the words “dissident” and “dissidence” are very close in meaning, they aren’t actually forms of the word “dissent:” they’re based on the Latin word for “to sit,” the idea being that dissidents are people who “sit” apart from others.
how to use it:
This word has a formal, serious tone, maybe because we often use it to talk about Supreme Court justices writing up their official dissents: their written explanations of why they disagree with the Court’s ruling.
To use the verb, talk about people dissenting: “they dissented against that decision,” “she dissented from their opinion,” “he dissented only partially from their judgment.”
And to use the noun, talk about people’s dissent: “they expressed their dissent,” “there was no dissent over that issue,” “they tried to quell the dissent among the population,” “they tried and failed to crush this overwhelming dissent.”
Finally, you can talk about dissenting judges, views, and opinions.
examples:
“When committee members discussed who should take the lead in the public questioning, Mr. Schiff said, they all agreed it should be Mr. Goldman — even if that meant giving up their own precious time in the spotlight. ‘There wasn’t a whisper of dissent,’ the congressman said.”
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 2 December 2019
“She refused to talk to anyone about the assassination… Thanks to her silence, she survived the ‘accidents’ that befell other witnesses…so that her dissenting voice would eventually be heard.”
— Victoria Emma Pagán, Conspiracy Narratives in Roman History, 2013