What does "communism" mean?
Any far-left political ideology or philosophy advocating holding the production of resources collectively, especially by seizing it through revolution.
Communism
/[ˈkɑ.mju.nɪ.zm̩]/ noun, slang
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any far-left political ideology or philosophy advocating holding the production of resources collectively, especially by seizing it through revolution.
- Grammar: communism is listed as noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: anarchism, bipartisanship, bolshevism, castroism.
- Useful contrasts: bourgeois ideology, capitalism, capitalist order.
- Usage evidence: Communism will never be reached in my lifetime.
How to use "communism"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "communism" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "communism" is acting as noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any far-left political ideology or philosophy advocating holding the production of resources collectively, especially by seizing it through revolution. countable, uncountable
"I want to gather together about twenty souls and sail away from this world of war and squalor and found a little colony where there shall be no money but a sort of communism as far as necessaries of life go, and some real decency."
- 2 The ideology of political parties that use the term Communist in their names, usually Marxist and Leninist. uncountable
- 3 a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society wordnet
- 4 Any political social system that implements a communist political philosophy. countable, uncountable
- 5 The socio-economic system based on such parties' ideologies. uncountable
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership wordnet
- 7 The international socialist society where classes, money, and the state no longer exist. countable, uncountable
- 8 A state of affairs perceived as oppressive, overly arbitrary, or totalitarian. US, informal, uncountable
"...he shouldn't...just...[say]..."I -- I am responsible for prosperity,"...that's Communism, Sir, you see."
- 9 Any left-wing ideology, government regulations, or policies promoting a welfare state, nationalisation, etc. Western, colloquial, countable, derogatory, often, uncountable
"This tax plan is communism!"
- 10 Readiness to share scientific findings (the first of the Mertonian norms). countable, rare, uncountable
"A recent survey of 633 South Korean scientists found not only that communism was the Mertonian norm they thought most respected in practice (Kim and Kim 2018, 9), but also that younger scientists’ replies showed evidence of ‘mounting tension between the commercialisation of academic science and the norm of communalism’ (Kim and Kim 2018, 19). Our focus on scientific communism and its relationship to commercial research may thus reflect the concerns of working scientists."
- 11 communality, sharedness. countable, rare, uncountable
"Rational expectations econometrics extends a communism of statistical models to include a “sharing with nature” that is an essential input into making maximum likelihood or generalized method of moments be good estimators."
Antonyms
Example
"Communism will never be reached in my lifetime."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "communism"?
Common synonyms include: anarchism, bipartisanship, bolshevism, castroism, centralism, coaction.
How do you use "communism" in a sentence?
Communism will never be reached in my lifetime.
How do you pronounce "communism"?
Pronounced /[ˈkɑ.mju.nɪ.zm̩]/.
Etymology
Etymology tree Old Latin comoinis Latin commūnis Old French comun French commun Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French communismebor. English communism A borrowing from French communisme, which was formed from commun (“common”) (from Latin commūnis) and the suffix -isme (“-ism”). By surface analysis, commune + -ism.