Populist Meaning
/ˈpɒp.jʊ.lɪst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person who advocates populism (a movement against ruling elites who are presumed not to act in the interests of the ordinary citizen).
nounA politician who advocates specific policies just because they are popular.
Sentence Examples
Algerians are tired of the populist tone of the Islamists.
Algerians don't want populist policies.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
As a ____, the leader always spoke directly to the working class masses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ candidate promised to give power back to ordinary people and challenge the established elite.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *poplos Old Latin populus Latin populus Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English populist From Latin populus + English -ist.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home."
— 2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2023:
"On top of all that, rightwing populists and leftwing progressives have made significant inroads into western politics."
— 2022 March 8, Andrew Anthony, “Liberalism and Its Discontents by Francis Fukuyama review – a defence of liberalism… from a former neocon”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2023:
"So as to not throw too much of the blame on American populists, the right in other Western countries is also guilty of adopting this crass and anti-intellectual brand of politics."
— 2025 May 2, Endeavour, “Against Slopulism”, in Counter-Currents, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2025:
"On the right, this can look like gleeful cruelty, sadistic memes, posts that “own the libs” or sensationalized claims about fraud and conspiracy. On the left, it could be social justice messaging, online identity politics or populist economic proposals to, say, tax the rich."
— 2026 February 13, Nathan Taylor Pemberton, “When Posting Becomes Its Own Style of Politics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2026:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
As a ____, the leader always spoke directly to the working class masses.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ candidate promised to give power back to ordinary people and challenge the established elite.