Pinko

//ˈpɪŋkəʊ// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A socialist, particularly one who is not completely communist. US, derogatory, informal, often

    "At Princeton a lone townsman cried "Down with Mussolini!" in the midst of a reception, was jostled by students, escorted off the campus. At Harvard the pinko National Students League protested to President Conant, but allowed the visitors to tour Cambridge in peace."

  2. 2
    a person with mildly leftist political views wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
anarchistanarcho-syndicalistbolshevikcommunazicommunioncommunist

Example

More examples

"Tom called John a pinko, then John called Tom a fascist."

Etymology

From pink + -o, a variation of red (“Communist”, noun), as pink is a lighter, more diluted form.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.