agitprop

What it means

1. alsoattributiveuncountablegovernmentPolitical propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

   Like most pieces of agitprop, the Lucas and Sargent paper vastly overstated the deficiencies of the old order.

   2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 2

   2 more examples

   Russian Twitter and Facebook bots trolled both the left and the right with agitprop — in what appears to have been a general effort to deepen divisions and sow political chaos in America, not to favor one party or candidate over the other.

   2017 November 19, Paul Sperry, “Here are some of the biggest myths of the Russian-collusion story”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2024

   The letter was pure puffery, probably written by some clerk in North Korea's agitprop bureau, but [Donald] Trump loved it.

   2020 June 23, John Bolton, “The Singapore Sling”, in The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 96

2. countablegovernmentAn instance of such propaganda.
3. countablegovernmentAn organization or person engaged in disseminating such propaganda.

In a sentence

Russian Twitter and Facebook bots trolled both the left and the right with agitprop — in what appears to have been a general effort to deepen divisions and sow political chaos in America, not to favor one party or candidate over the other.

2017 November 19, Paul Sperry, “Here are some of the biggest myths of the Russian-collusion story”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2024

Where it comes from

1. Russianагитпро́п“agitprop”
2. Englishagitprop

The noun is borrowed from Russian агитпро́п (agitpróp, “agitprop”), Агитпро́п (Agitpróp, “Agitprop (Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Soviet Union)”), short for отде́л агитации и пропаганды (otdél agitacii i propagandy, “Department for Agitation and Propaganda”); analysable as a blend of agitation + propaganda. The verb is derived from the noun.