Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
Antifa en · NOUN
Pronunciation
/ænˈtiːfə/
/ˈæntifɑː/
Etymology
Borrowed from German Antifa, originally an abbreviation for Antifaschistische Aktion, a wing of the Communist Party of Germany founded in 1932. Also a clipping of antifascism or antifascist.
Meanings
A local instance of this movement.
The stakes were high and the issues far-reaching; it is hardly astonishing that in cities like Bremen and Leipzig Antifas jumped the gun, exercised administrative powers without waiting for military government and continued them. 1949, Political Science Quarterly, volume 64, Academy of Political Science:
Both the pattern and participation and the internal structure of the Antifas recalled the French underground. 1981, James D. Wilkinson, The Intellectual Resistance in Europe, Harvard University Press, page 136:
After the war, Antifas varied in size and composition across the former Reich, now divided into four zones of occupation, and developed in interaction with the local occupying power. […] Although surviving records indicate that many Antifas were dominated by the KPD, the political mood in the early months was far from the “Third Period” adventurism of the late Weimar period. 2017 May 14, Loren Balhorn, “The Lost History of Antifa”, in Jacobin Magazine:
(informal, slang) A member of an anti-fascist group.
Borrowed from German Antifa, originally an abbreviation for Antifaschistische Aktion, a wing of the Communist Party of Germany founded in 1932. Also a clipping of antifascism or antifascist.
Meanings
A decentralized, radical political movement that opposes fascism.
The active Communist participation in the leadership of the Antifa committees made them vulnerable to "red scare" propaganda, especially from the much more conservative city government. 1996, Rebecca L. Boehling, A Question of Priorities: Democratic Reforms and Economic Recovery in Postwar Germany : Frankfurt, Munich, and Stuttgart Under U.S. Occupation, 1945-1949, Berghahn Books, page 102:
And the FBI is not the only federal law enforcement agency that tracks groups associated with the larger Antifa movement. 2025 September 23, Patrick G. Eddington, “On Trump’s Anti-Antifa Executive Order”, in Cato Institute:
After an anti-fascist punched a right-wing journalist in Portland, militant anti-fascists and Antifa have been branded as 'violent gangs,' even 'terrorists.' Those definitions are completely wrong. 2019 July 3, Stanislav Vysotsky, “Antifa in America: Militant Anti-fascism Isn't Terrorism, It's Self-defense”, in Haaretz:
Similarly, Antifa organized local defense units that fought off Nazi assaults and factory and land-estate committees that blocked further wage cuts and other infringements. 1985, Andreas Dorpalen, German History in Marxist Perspective: The East German Approach, Wayne State University Press, page 385:
(informal, slang) Black bloc groups that fight fascist or far-right groups in public, usually anarchist, socialist, or communist groups.