communist

American  

[kom-yuh-nist] / ˈkɒm jə nɪst /

noun

• communists
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) a member of the Communist Party or movement.

2. an advocate of communism.

3. a person who is regarded as supporting politically leftist or subversive causes.

4. (usually initial capital letter) a Communard.

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adjective

1. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Communist Party or to Communism.

2. pertaining to communists or communism.

communist British  

/ ˈkɒmjʊnɪst /

noun

1. a supporter of any form of communism

2. (often capital) a supporter of Communism or a Communist movement or state

3. (often capital) a member of a Communist party

4. (often capital) any person holding left-wing views, esp when considered subversive

5. a person who practises communal living; communalist

6. another name for Communard

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adjective

1. of, characterized by, favouring, or relating to communism; communistic

communist Cultural  

1. A supporter of communism.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anticommunist
  noun
• anticommunistic
  adjective
• anticommunistical
  adjective
• communistic
  adjective
• communistical
  adjective
• procommunist
  adjective
• anticommunistically
  adverb
• communistically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• communists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of communist

From the French word communiste, dating back to 1835–45. See common, -ist

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Explanation

Communism is a political doctrine that is an extreme form of Socialism, and anyone belonging to this particular political party is called a communist. A handful of countries call themselves communist, including China, Cuba, and North Korea — though many communists would disagree. We can find the roots of the word communist in the Latin communis, meaning "common" or "shared." These meanings certainly apply to the ideal version of Communism, which means that everyone is equal, and no one has more than anyone else. It was first used in English as both a noun and an adjective in 1841, taken from the French communiste. In the mid-20th Century, division between the U.S. and its allies and those that were Communist formed what became the “Cold War.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

communist communists

"Waste stored since the communist era or produced by current factories contains chromium, nickel and zinc," Mehmeti said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

He is the son of refugees who fled communist Vietnam and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduating from Rosemead High School.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“I don’t think we’ve ever been as close,” says Bryan Calvo about the end of communist rule in Cuba.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The self-proclaimed revolutionary communist has since sent messages to supporters describing himself as a "prisoner of war".

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

He met Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk, a devoted communist who lectured miners on the basics of communist philosophy.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Papers given to the National Archives show he first came to the attention of the security service in the 1930s when he was considered a firebrand left-winger linked to prominent communists.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Wax figures of scrappy, earnest young communists gesticulate during a 1921 meeting frozen in time, debating how best to bring Marxism to China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

During the McCarthy era, overreaching laws, surveillance, and public and private sector reprisals ostensibly targeted alleged communists.

From Salon ● May 28, 2026

Brown and black coal mining employed about 100,000 people in the 1980s, when the former Czechoslovakia was ruled by Moscow-steered communists promoting heavy industry.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

“These communists, what is it that they believe?”

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

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