WordValepopulism
politics claiming to champion ordinary people against elites
In more detail
1. (noun) a political approach that claims to represent ordinary people and is critical of established elites and institutions
2. (noun) the quality of appealing to ordinary people rather than to educated or sophisticated people
Examples
- 1. The politician's rise was based on populism, promising to fight against corrupt elites.
- 2. The movie's populism made it very successful with general audiences.
How to use populism
Populism is often used descriptively to identify a political approach or trend, though it frequently carries a critical or skeptical tone, especially among academics and elites. It can appear across the political spectrum (left or right). The term emphasizes the claimed solidarity with ordinary people and suspicion of institutions, experts, and established power structures, though it is sometimes questioned whether populist movements genuinely serve popular interests or merely exploit popular grievances.
Common phrases
- rise of populism
- populist movement
- populist rhetoric
- anti-populist backlash
- left-wing populism
- right-wing populism
Synonyms
demagoguery · appeal to the masses · anti-elitism · grass-roots politics
Opposites
elitism · aristocracy · intellectualism
Word family
populist (noun, adjective) · populism (noun) · populistically (adverb)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes treat populism as inherently pejorative when it can be used neutrally; others assume it describes only right-wing politics when it spans the ideological spectrum.
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