Red Scare

Cultural  

1. The rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrants of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. This “scare” was caused by fears of subversion by communists in the United States after the Russian Revolution.

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Example Sentences

The Red Scare followed—the government arrested and deported radicals, breaking unions like the IWW and hobbling labor for a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

To distance themselves from the Red Scare, the Reds temporarily changed their name.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2025

But the nation also came to its senses, and by the mid-1950s the Red Scare had effectively ended.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

Also spreading throughout the United States at the same time was the Red Scare.

From Salon • Nov. 5, 2024

And once again it became clear that one hundred years after the first Red Scare and some sixty-five after a second, nativism and a mistrust of foreigners are still very much with us.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler