Dictionary

populism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *poplos Old Latin populus Latin populus Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English populism From Latin populus + English -ism.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A political doctrine or philosophy that proposes that the rights and powers of ordinary people are exploited by a privileged elite, and supports their struggle to overcome this.
   • In the early 21st century, the tide of populism in Western countries has been primarily driven by demographic shifts, deindustrialization, inflation, a hostile cultural climate, and a collapse in social cohesion. 2025 May 2, Endeavour, “Against Slopulism”, in Counter-Currents, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2025:
2. (countable, derogatory, uncountable) The practice of appealing to the interests of the common people.
   • It is not crass populism or majoritanianism that ratifies the legitimacy of the polity or the administration. 2006, Prasanta Chakravarty, Like Parchment in the Fire, page 104:

Forms

Deriveds

technopopulism · right-wing populism · sadopopulism · punitive populism · left-wing populism · pseudopopulism · neopopulism · penal populism · ecopopulism · slopulism

Relateds

populist · people's party · demagoguery

Translations (80)

nan-hbl 民粹主義 /民粹主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ga pobalachas (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ro populism (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sl populizem (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ky популизм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · kmr popûlîzm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · be папулі́зм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ca populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · mn популизм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · nb populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ka პოპულიზმი (a political doctrine or philosophy) · lo ປະຊານິຍົມ (a political doctrine or philosophy) · lt populizmas (a political doctrine or philosophy) · cmn 平民主義 /平民主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tl populismo (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ko 포퓰리즘 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ru наро́дничество (a political doctrine or philosophy) · pt populismo (a political doctrine or philosophy) · az populizm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ja ポピュリズム (a political doctrine or philosophy) · gl populismo (a political doctrine or philosophy) · nn populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · hak 民粹主義 /民粹主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · lv populisms (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sh популѝзам (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ja 大衆主義 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · cs populismus (a political doctrine or philosophy) · kk халықшылдық (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tk populizm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · az xalqçılıq (a political doctrine or philosophy) · bg попули́зъм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · id populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · km ប្រជានិយម (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ru попули́зм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · uk популі́зм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · mk попули́зам (a political doctrine or philosophy) · si ජනතාවාදය (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sk populizmus (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tr popülizm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · fa-ira پوپولیسْم (a political doctrine or philosophy) · vi chủ nghĩa dân tuý (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sh populizam (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tg авомгароӣ (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ko 평민주의 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · hi लोकलुभावनवाद (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ja 人民主義 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · cmn 民粹主義 /民粹主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ms populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · et populism (a political doctrine or philosophy) · fa-ira عَوامگَرایی (a political doctrine or philosophy) · hak 平民主義 /平民主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · is lýðhyggja (a political doctrine or philosophy) · da populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · kmr gelkîtî (a political doctrine or philosophy) · kmr gelperestî (a political doctrine or philosophy) · hu populizmus (a political doctrine or philosophy) · nan-hbl 平民主義 /平民主义 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · uz populizm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ug خەلقچىلىك (a political doctrine or philosophy) · bn জনতুষ্টিবাদ (a political doctrine or philosophy) · fi populismi (a political doctrine or philosophy) · kk популизм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · la populismus (a political doctrine or philosophy) · pl populizm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · es populismo (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ko 대중주의 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · fr populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · hy պոպուլիզմ (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ko 민사주의 (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tg популизм (a political doctrine or philosophy) · ar شَعْبَوِيَّة (a political doctrine or philosophy) · tr halkçılık (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sv populism (a political doctrine or philosophy) · el λαϊκισμός (a political doctrine or philosophy) · nl populisme (a political doctrine or philosophy) · th ประชานิยม (a political doctrine or philosophy) · he פּוֹפּוּליזם (a political doctrine or philosophy) · sq popullizëm (a political doctrine or philosophy) · de Populismus (a political doctrine or philosophy) · is popúlismi (a political doctrine or philosophy)