populism
any of various, often antiestablishment or anti-intellectual political movements or philosophies that offer unorthodox solutions or policies and appeal to the common person rather than according with traditional party or partisan ideologies.
grass-roots democracy; working-class activism; egalitarianism.
representation or extolling of the common person, the working class, the underdog, etc.: populism in the arts.
(initial capital letter) the political philosophy of the People's party.
Origin of populism
1Other words from populism
- an·ti-pop·u·lism, noun
Words Nearby populism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use populism in a sentence
There’s a reason populism has enjoyed a moment for the last decade or so.
Why Legacy Wealth Is an Easy Target to Fund Infrastructure | Philip Elliott | August 20, 2021 | TimeMost dangerously, it creates a sense of injustice and resentment that has stoked the right-wing populism that is shaking the foundations of liberal democracy.
As a child growing up in Minnesota in the 1930s and 1940s, Mondale sat in the front row of his father’s small Methodist church, listening to sermons that mixed Depression-bred economic populism with a concern for community.
She staved off populism, welcomed refugees and calmly guided Europe through multiple crises.
The hollowing out of mid‑sized manufacturing cities in America’s Heartland has fueled the rise of populism on the right and left.
Eight in Ten Americans are Concerned About Partisanship. Here's How 'The Unum Test' Can Reunite America | Jonathan Haidt | April 13, 2021 | Time
He has become the most radical pope in modern memory for his economic populism.
Cohen thinks maybe some economic populism could work, and that could be true in limited circumstances.
Will the party stand for economic populism, or will it welcome corporate and business allies?
Populists Go Down in Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party | David Freedlander | September 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn addition to his temperamental aversion to populism, Roosevelt also had a practical reason to be cautious.
The GOP’s Last Identity Crisis Remade U.S. Politics | Michael Wolraich | July 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis populism has left little room for Hamdeen Sabahi, the only other candidate in the election.
Egypt Prepares to Anoint a Dictator and Call it an Election | Jesse Rosenfeld | May 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo discredit a new proposition it was only necessary to observe that it was as dead as populism.
Contemporary American History, 1877-1913 | Charles A. BeardThe whole program of populism he now viewed as a "sudden, dangerous, and revolutionary assault upon law and order."
History of the United States | Charles A. Beard and Mary R. BeardThe mission of populism did not end when free silver had been driven like a wedge into all the parties.
The New Nation | Frederic L. PaxsonIf we fail to pass this agreement, we will embolden the purveyors of false populism in our hemisphere.
State of the Union Addresses of George W. Bush | George W. BushIn the days of populism they were more open-minded than the Americans.
The Old World in the New | Edward Alsworth Ross
British Dictionary definitions for populism
/ (ˈpɒpjʊˌlɪzəm) /
a political strategy based on a calculated appeal to the interests or prejudices of ordinary people
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
Cultural definitions for populism
The belief that greater popular participation in government and business is necessary to protect individuals from exploitation by inflexible bureaucracy and financial conglomerates. “Power to the people” is a famous populist slogan.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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