leftist

English

Etymology

From left +‎ -ist.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlɛf.tɪst/

  • Audio (Texas, Austin):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈlef.tɪst/

Noun

leftist (plural leftists)

1. (politics, generally) A person who holds views associated with the political left.

   Synonym: left-winger

   Coordinate terms: centrist, rightist

   • 1976, June Teufel Dreyer, China's Forty Millions: Minority Nationalities and National Integration in the People's Republic of China‎, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 214:

     The first major clash between the two groups occurred in Shih-ho-tzu on January 26, 1967, with the leftists admitting they had suffered a bloody defeat.

2. (politics, specifically) Someone who holds socialist or communist-leaning economic views, usually alongside progressive social views; an anticapitalist.

Derived terms

• far leftist
• nonleftist
• regressive leftist
• ultraleftist

Translations

a person who holds views associated with the political left

Arabic: يَسَارِيّ m (yasāriyy) يَسَارِيّة f (yasāriyya) Belarusian: левый m (ljevyj), левая f (ljevaja) Bulgarian: левичар (bg) m (levičar) Catalan: esquerrà (ca), esquerrer (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 左派 (zh) (zuǒpài) Czech: levičák (cs) m Danish: venstreorienteret c Esperanto: maldekstrulo, livulo Finnish: vasemmistolainen (fi) Georgian: მემარცხენე (memarcxene) German: Linker (de) m, Linke (de) f (female) Greek: αριστεριστής (el) m (aristeristís) Hebrew: שְׂמֹאלָנִי m (s'molaní), שְׂמֹאלָנִית f (s'molanít) Hindi: वामपंथी (vāmpanthī) Hungarian: baloldali (hu), (colloquial) balos (hu) Icelandic: vinstrimaður m Italian: sinistroide (it) m or f Kazakh: солшыл (solşyl) Macedonian: левичар m (levičar) Mongolian: зүүнтэн (mn) (züünten) Persian: چپ‌گرا (čap-gerâ) Polish: lewicowiec (pl) m Portuguese: esquerdista (pt) m or f Romanian: stângist (ro) m Serbo-Croatian: lèvičār m, ljèvičār (sh) m, лѐвича̄р m, љѐвича̄р m Spanish: izquierdista (es) m or f, izquierdoso m Tagalog: makakaliwa Turkish: solcu (tr) Yiddish: לינקיסט m (linkist), לינקער m (linker), לינקע f (linke)

Adjective

leftist (comparative more leftist, superlative most leftist)

1. Of or pertaining to the political left.
   • 2023 November 29 – December 5, Rob Natelson, “Why I Still Doubt the 2020 Election”, in The Epoch Times, U.S. edition, number 488, A, page 17:

         In law school, when we students thought the outcome of a case was determined by a rule we had studied, leftist professors admonished us, “Tools not rules!” In other words, rules control nothing; they’re merely tools you manipulate for the results you want. The fancy word for this kind of amorality is “instrumentalism,” and it subverts the rule of law.

Derived terms

• far-leftist
• nonleftist
• ultraleftist

Translations

pertaining to the political left

Arabic: يَسَارِيّ m (yasāriyy) يَسَارِيّة f (yasāriyya) Azerbaijani: solçu Bulgarian: левичарски (bg) (levičarski) Catalan: esquerrà (ca), esquerrer (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 左派 (zh) (zuǒpài) Czech: levicový (cs) Danish: venster- Finnish: vasemmistolainen (fi) German: linksorientiert (de), linksstehend Hebrew: שׂמֹאלָנִי (s'molaní) Hindi: वामपंथ (vāmpanth) Hungarian: baloldali (hu), (colloquial) balos (hu) Italian: sinistroide (it), sinistrorso (it) Kazakh: солшыл (solşyl) Polish: lewicowy (pl) Portuguese: de esquerda, esquerdista (pt) Serbo-Croatian: lȇvī (sh), lijȇvī (sh), ле̑вӣ, лије̑вӣ Spanish: izquierdista (es) Swedish: vänster- Yiddish: לינקיסטיש (linkistish)

See also

• lefty

Anagrams

• ittself, liftest