Meanings
nounsocialist realism (uncountable)
- uncountableartA Stalinist idealization of the dictatorship of the proletariat applied to art that used realistic techniques to show the struggle for socialism in a positive and optimistic manner.
Derided, lampooned and long since consigned to the dustbin of aesthetic history, the art of Soviet Socialist Realism has not enjoyed a happy afterlife following the collapse of communism.
2009 October 24, Vanessa Thorpe, “New exhibition in Berlin brings forgotten Soviet art back to reality”, in The Observer
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 社會主義現實主義 /社会主义现实主义
- 社會主義現實主義 /社会主义现实主义 (shèhuì zhǔyì xiànshí zhǔyì)art style
Finnish sosialistinen realismi
- sosialistinen realismiart style
French réalisme socialiste
- réalisme socialisteart style
German sozialistischer Realismus
- sozialistischer Realismusart style
Hebrew ריאליזם סוציאליסטי
- ריאליזם סוציאליסטי (realizm sotsialisti)art style
Malay realisme sosialis
- realisme sosialisart style
Polish socrealizm, realizm socjalistyczny
- socrealizmart style
- realizm socjalistycznyart style
Romanian realism socialist
- realism socialistart style
Russian соцреализм
- соцреализм (socrealizm)art style
Ukrainian соціалісти́чний реалі́зм, соцреалі́зм
- соціалісти́чний реалі́зм (socialistýčnyj realízm)art style
- соцреалі́зм (socrealízm)art style
Cite this entry
APA
socialist realism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/socialist%20realism
MLA
“socialist realism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/socialist%20realism. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “socialist realism,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/socialist%20realism.
Source: socialist realism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.