Meanings
Atari Democrat1
plural Atari Democrats · alternative ATARI Democrat
- UShistoricalinformalgovernmentA member of the US Democratic Party who emphasizes the role of high tech, in particular information technology, for economic growth.
When Walter Mondale, a traditional New Deal liberal […] lost by a wide margin to Reagan in the presidential election of 1984, the Atari Democrats joined a larger group of frustrated Democratic officials to found the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).
2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 4, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–20201 more example
[Paul] Tsongas was, perhaps, the original neoliberal and Atari Democrat. In 1980, he had shocked the audience at an Americans for Democratic Action gathering by urging them to focus on economic growth rather than the redistribution of wealth and by advocating the deregulation of natural gas prices.
2004, John B. Judis, Ruy Teixeira, The Emerging Democratic Majority, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 132
ATARI Democrat2
plural ATARI Democrats
- Alternative letter-case form of Atari Democrat.
Origin
From Atari, a prominent video game system in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Atari Democrat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atari%20Democrat
“Atari Democrat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atari%20Democrat. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Atari Democrat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Atari%20Democrat.
Source: Atari Democrat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.