Meanings
- A left-wing political faction that eschews respectability politics to convey a more vulgar socialist message, emphasizing action over political correctness.
The dirtbag left may be seen as a case of bourgeois pessimism moving from the more laid-back image of dinner party conversation to a direct engagement with right-wing activism and Democratic Party sell-outs.
2018, David Block, Post-Truth and Political Discourse, →ISBN, page 1211 more example
Another attribute of the Dirtbag left is its abandonment of the fossilized ideal of balance. Many don’t believe that any news outlet or political talking head is bias-free. Therefore, clinging to this illusion is not only pointless but potentially harmful.
2022 August 6, Heather Hutchinson, “I'm Just a Rhetorical Dirtbag, Baby.”, in MacEwan University Student EJournal, volume 6, number 1, →DOI
Origin
Coined by Amber A'Lee Frost in 2016, now a co-host of the left-wing United States podcast Chapo Trap House.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
dirtbag left. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dirtbag%20left
“dirtbag left.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dirtbag%20left. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dirtbag left,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dirtbag%20left.
Source: dirtbag left on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.