populist
noun
a supporter or adherent of populism.
populist
American
[pop-yuh-list]
/ ˈpɒp jə lɪst /
noun
-
populists
plural
-
a supporter or adherent of populism.
-
(initial capital letter) a member of the People's party.
adjective
-
Also populistic. of, relating to, or characteristic of populism or its adherents.
-
(initial capital letter) Also Populistic. of or relating to the People's party.
Populist
1
British
/ ˈpɒpjʊlɪst /
noun
adjective
populist
2
British
/ ˈpɒpjʊlɪst /
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of populist
An Americanism first recorded in 1890–95; from Latin popul(us) “people” ( cf. people, popular) + -ist
Explanation
Use the noun populist to describe a person — especially a politician or activist — who works to give regular working people a voice in their government. In politics, the word populist refers to someone who puts ordinary people's rights above those of the wealthy and powerful. It is basically a synonym of democrat, which when spelled with a lower-case d is simply a person who believes in democratic principles of rule by the people, freedom, and equality. The root of populist is the Latin word for "people," populus.
Vocabulary lists containing populist
We the People: Popul
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Unit 1, Small-Group Learning
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Content Summary 6.7: Impact of Contemporary Globalization
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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.
See Examples For:
Serbia's long-time populist President Aleksandar Vucic resigned Sunday to run for prime minister in October snap elections after nearly two years of student-led protests that had been pressing for just such a poll.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Synthetic yet organic, populist yet elitist, the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is full of contradictions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Shortsighted or populist reactions to underlying business challenges are not the answer," Ashley said in the letter.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
She came to national prominence in 2009 as leader of the fledgling, populist Wildrose Party and turned it into a challenger to the Progressive Conservatives, who had governed Alberta since 1971.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The bond market, because it consisted mainly of big institutional investors, experienced no similarly populist political pressure.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Evangelical leaders “helped to organize the Populist revolt of the 1880s and 1890s” and others “urged Texans to see the sins of our economic system,” he said.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026
Populist Peter Pellegrini has been elected president of Slovakia, succeeding the liberal Zuzana Caputova.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2024
Populist former prime minister Robert Fico and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party captured 22.9% of the vote on Saturday.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2023
The incident was covered at the time by a local media outlet, The Lost Coast Populist, but wasn’t picked up by national outlets until Wednesday.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
Populist candidates, black and white, campaigned together throughout the South, speaking from the same podium.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Macron, who attended the country’s top schools, “has become the embodiment of everything populists hate,” said Olivier Costa, a research professor at the Paris-based Sciences Po university and France’s National Center for Scientific Research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
These shamanistic masks have long been a mainstay of populists.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2025
The former valedictorian of an elite Baltimore prep school and Ivy League graduate shared posts on social media from an eclectic stream of populists, entrepreneurs, neuroscientists, centrists and disruptors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2024
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned "extremists and populists are stirring up a climate of increasing violence".
From BBC ● May 4, 2024
It became evident to both Democrats and populists that the Negro vote had become the deciding vote in many states.
From The Black Experience in America by Norman Coombs
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.
