populism

noun

pop·​u·​lism ˈpä-pyə-ˌli-zəm 

plural populisms

1

: a political philosophy or movement that represents or is claimed to represent the interests of ordinary people especially against the Establishment (see establishment sense 2a)

Populism usually arises from a general discontent. … People feel that things are out of control, socially and economically. … The idea that this is the fault of the meritocratic elite is an easy sell.

—Nicholas Lemann

… anti-government populism is beginning to give way to the more classic, anti-corporate populism …

—Leslie Savan

… Elizabeth Warren summoned the familiar and fiery spirits of Democratic populism. "Our job is to fight for the families of America," the Massachusetts Senator yelled over applause. … "Stitch up the tax loopholes so that millionaires and billionaires pay at the same tax rate as the people in this room."

—Jay Newton-Small

There are few things more terrifying than demagogic populism, sharpened dangerously into authoritarian rule, with minorities left at the mercy of those now in charge of writing and enforcing the laws.

—George Takei

The move comes amid a rise in economic populism in the GOP, Republican strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner. Even as the party writ large is generally supportive of the business community, an insurgent crop of Republican lawmakers is pursuing a more working-class-friendly agenda …

—Samantha-Jo Roth

sometimes, specifically : the political and economic doctrines advocated by the Populists (see populist entry 1 sense 1b)

… the nativist populism of the 1890s, the political and social movement of poor and dispossessed farmers who saw the source of their plight as the controllers of money and the rule of gold …

—Daniel Bell

2

: general concern for ordinary people

… a profile of James Brown in Look, in February of 1969. The article celebrated Mr. Brown's business empire … and his populism (traveling a hundred thousand miles a year to reach three million fans where they lived; capping ticket prices at five dollars for adults and ninety-nine cents for children under twelve) …

—Philip Gourevitch

Examples of populism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For such an insistence on democracy, the pavilion is curiously tepid in its politics, save for a kind of vernacular populism and some PBS-esque nods to the Gee’s Bend quilters. —Kate Wagner, Curbed, 5 Sep. 2025

Every cut to the CDC, every withdrawal from WHO, every concession to anti-science populism shortens lives — not only in Chicago, Harlem and Houston but also in Lagos, Caracas, Mumbai, Gaza and Nairobi. —Stan Chu Ilo, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025

The biggest challenge to governance in Japan is not far-right populism but power dispersion and the gridlock that comes with it. —Mireya Solís, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2025

But the genie of populism is now out of the bottle and there is no going back. —Jeff Kingston, Time, 28 Aug. 2025

Maintaining Quality And Ethical Standards Maintain ethical standards without yielding to the interests of populism and anything else that reigns over marketing. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025

Treiber said part of the Democratic Party's struggles comes from its failure to capitalize on the energy around Sanders' brand of populism. —Alex J. Rouhandeh, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025

Some aspects of his embrace of Trumpism—and, with it, an insistent economic populism and anti-corporate posture—strike me as sincere, and others less so. —Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025

But like populism’s critique of insider politics, the outsider critique of the medical establishment has always struggled to offer an alternative vision that’s rigorous rather than credulous. —Ross Douthat, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably from popul(ist) entry 1 + -ism

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for populism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism
• americanism