agitprop

[ aj-it-prop ]

See synonyms for agitprop on Thesaurus.com

noun

agitation and propaganda, especially for the cause of communism.
Often Agitprop . an agency or department, as of a government, that directs and coordinates agitation and propaganda.

Also ag·it·prop·ist. a person who is trained or takes part in such activities.

adjective

of or relating to agitprop.

Origin of agitprop

First recorded in 1930–35; from Russian Agitpróp, originally for Agitatsiónno-propagandístskiĭ otdél “Agitation Propaganda Section” (of the Central Committee, or a local committee, of the Communist Party); subsequently the head of such a section, or in compound names of political education organs, as agitpropbrigáda, etc.

Words Nearby agitprop

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use agitprop in a sentence

A few days later saw the theatrical release of Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” in which Baron Cohen delivers a slyly self-referential performance as Abbie Hoffman, his ’60s-era forebear in mischief-making agitprop.
Movies are rushing to impact the election. Don’t ask whether they’ll work. Ask whether they’ll last. | Ann Hornaday | October 30, 2020 | Washington Post
Having reviewed anti-Israeli agitprop masquerading as theater, I was prepared to join critics in hating The Death of Klinghoffer.
See the Met’s ‘Klinghoffer,’ Then Judge It | James Kirchick | November 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And yes, education is for everyone—provided they want to read wooden agitprop about how education in Cuba is for everyone.
Russell Brand’s Revolution For Morons | Michael Moynihan | November 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Wizner said he understood the revulsion: The interchange looked like cheap agitprop.
Snowden’s Camp: Staged Putin Q&A Was a Screw-Up | Noah Shachtman | April 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
If you Google “Obamacare navigators,” you will be hit smack in the fact with the usual agitprop.
What’s Really Obstructing Obamacare? GOP Resisters | Michael Tomasky | November 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Imagine the field day the right-wing agitprop machine would have had in 2008 with Barack Obama doing something like that.
Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney’s Tax-Plan Flim-Flam | Michael Tomasky | February 25, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
agitprop, in turn, is responsible for the transmission of guidelines down to the lowest levels of party organization.
Area Handbook for Bulgaria | Eugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for agitprop

agitprop

/ (ˈædʒɪtˌprɒp) /

noun

(often capital) (formerly) a bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in charge of agitation and propaganda on behalf of Communism
- any promotion, as in the arts, of political propaganda, esp of a Communist nature
- (as modifier): agitprop theatre

Origin of agitprop

C20: short for Russian Agitpropbyuro, from agit (atsiya) agitation + prop (aganda) propaganda

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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