leftist
Americannoun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Federal authorities have said for years that neo-Nazi and anti-government militia groups pose the most active and lethal domestic threats, though recently authorities have noted increases in leftist and mixed-motive attacks.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
And despite an initial backlash among Venezuelans, fervor for the former leader of the leftist political movement known as Chavismo has died down.
From Barron's • May 16, 2026
The royals visited New York on Wednesday, where they stopped at the 9/11 memorial and met leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
“We can no longer keep our city together with duct tape and slurry,” said Rae Huang, a leftist community organizer, at a recent candidate forum on housing and transportation.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
The Neylan board’s first case involved a former Los Alamos chemist named Robert Hurley, who had fallen under suspicion because his Latvian-born wife purportedly had leftist sympathies.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions 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.
