Phrase guide

real socialism

noun · 1 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

pragmatic socialism, practical socialism, a form of socialism which attempts to reach tangible goals perceived to be feasible instead of primarily focusing on adherence to Marxist-Leninist theory.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

A calque of German Realsozialismus, from real (“real-world, practical, non-idealistic”) + Sozialismus (“socialism”), q.v., with influence from English real (“actual, nonimaginary”).

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 現實社會主義 /现实社会主义 (xiànshí shèhuìzhǔyì) — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • French: socialisme réel — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • German: Realsozialismus — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • Japanese: 現実社会主義 (genjitsu shakaishugi) — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • Polish: realny socjalizm — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • Russian: реа́льный социали́зм (reálʹnyj socialízm) — a pragmatic brand of socialism
  • Swedish: realsocialism — a pragmatic brand of socialism