leftist
Americannoun
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leftists
plural
adjective
adjective
noun
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Etymology
Origin of leftist
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How does leftist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
In politics, a leftist is someone who tends to support progressive or socialist ideas. Leftists generally favor bigger government and policies that result in economic and social equality. This political term, in use since the late 19th century, is from left, a word that came to mean "the democratic or liberal party." This meaning goes back to the seating arrangement of legislators in the Estates General during the French Revolution: those seated on the left supported the revolution, and came to be called la gauche, or "the left." Leftists is just another way to describe anyone with progressive or liberal political beliefs.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, an influential leftist leader who helped guide Mexico toward democracy, has died in Mexico City at age 92.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Despite his closeness to the Bolsonaros, Trump has also shown an uncanny fondness for Lula, saying that despite turbulent trade relations, he and the veteran leftist, both 80, have "excellent chemistry."
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
When he became president in 2003, he came to office as the first leftist leader of Brazil in nearly half a century.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Watters wanted to compress El-Sayed into a caricature, a radical leftist Muslim candidate who could be made alien and threatening to the people watching at home.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
A talented musician, he socialized with what he described as an “exciting group of leftist intellectuals and bon vivants” in San Francisco.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
But his tone has changed slightly following input from younger leftists, and the incumbent now calls himself the "king of the selfie."
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
In that very funny tract, Rosten addressed young baby boom radicals: leftists who had lost faith in America because of the war in Vietnam and reactionaries who wanted to ban hippies from college campuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
According to Mark Bray, a professor of history at Rutgers University, the term was picked up across Europe in the 1980s and ’90s and adopted by a broad swath of leftists, anarchists and anti-authoritarian socialists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
He assigned his student a scholarly monograph, “Alienation: Marx’s Conception of Man in a Capitalist Society,” to begin his long education in how leftists think.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
Driving out the Turks to gain national independence in 1878 is remembered, as is the abortive uprising of the leftists against the government in September 1923.
From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Violeta D. Baluyut
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
