populist

plural populists

1. A person who advocates populism (a movement against ruling elites who are presumed not to act in the interests of the ordinary citizen).

   On top of all that, rightwing populists and leftwing progressives have made significant inroads into western politics.

   2022 March 8, Andrew Anthony, “Liberalism and Its Discontents by Francis Fukuyama review – a defence of liberalism… from a former neocon”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2023

   2 more examples

   Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home.

   2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2023

   So as to not throw too much of the blame on American populists, the right in other Western countries is also guilty of adopting this crass and anti-intellectual brand of politics.

   2025 May 2, Endeavour, “Against Slopulism”, in Counter-Currents, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2025

2. A politician who advocates specific policies just because they are popular.
3. A person who advocates democratic principles.

comparative more populist · superlative most populist

1. Democratic.
2. Put forward just because it would be popular.
3. Of or pertaining to populism.

   On the right, this can look like gleeful cruelty, sadistic memes, posts that “own the libs” or sensationalized claims about fraud and conspiracy. On the left, it could be social justice messaging, online identity politics or populist economic proposals to, say, tax the rich.

   2026 February 13, Nathan Taylor Pemberton, “When Posting Becomes Its Own Style of Politics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN