Oxford Dictionaries Online word of the day today was hacktivist. The definition given (from the New Oxford American Dictionary) is "a computer hacker whose activity is aimed at promoting a social or political cause".
The definition of the same word in the Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE) is "a person who uses computer crimes to further social or political ends", and the same wording is used in the Australian Oxford Dictionary. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary doesn't have hacktivist as a headword at all, only as a derivative of hacktivism, which is defined as "the commission of computer crimes, e.g. hacking into military or financial etc. computer systems, to further social or political ends".
Hacktivist is a portmanteau word -- a blend of hack and activist. It is interesting that whilst hacktivist gets its own entry in ODE and OED, activist doesn't -- it's only given as a derivative of activism. Other 'activists' that are mentioned in the OED are cultural activist, eco-activist, peace activist and student activist, but none of these is a headword.
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