Standard Lemma guide

leftism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: L EH1 F T IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Belief in the principles of left-wing politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the ideology of the political left; belief in or support of the tenets of the political left

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: political orientation, ideology, political theory

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English left 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. English -ism English leftism From left + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: solçuluq — belief
  • Bulgarian: левичарство (levičarstvo) — belief
  • Chinese Mandarin: 左派思想 (zuǒpài sīxiǎng) — belief
  • Chinese Mandarin: 左翼思想 (zuǒyì sīxiǎng) — belief
  • Finnish: vasemmistolaisuus — belief
  • Kazakh: солшылдық (solşyldyq) — belief
  • Polish: lewica — belief
  • Spanish: izquierdismo — belief