adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A person who advocates populism (a movement against ruling elites who are presumed not to act in the interests of the ordinary citizen).

   "Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home."

2. 2
   someone who advocates the rights of the common people over those of the elite wordnet
3. 3
   A politician who advocates specific policies just because they are popular.
4. 4
   A person who advocates democratic principles.

Adjective

1. 1
   Democratic.
2. 2
   Put forward just because it would be popular.
3. 3
   Of or pertaining to populism.

Synonyms

All synonyms

democratpopulistic

Example

More examples

"Algerians are tired of the populist tone of the Islamists."

Etymology

From Latin populus + -ist.

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