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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ Appealing to people 👤 A crowd-pleaser
popularist

popularist

6.0
A statement or action that tries to win support from many people
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɑpjələrɪst/
translation icon : populista
  • Many politicians adopt popularist policies to connect with voters and address their concerns directly.

Examples

  • Carnival for Bakhtin is at once a popularist utopian vision of the world perceived from below and a festive critique, through the inversion of authoritative rank and order, of the "high" culture:

    Academic text (1997)

  • Her book presented a popularist perspective on history, making complex events accessible to a wide audience.

  • The artist's latest exhibition featured a popularist approach, showcasing themes that resonated with everyday experiences.

Synonyms

popular
vspopularist
128 1.0

Relating to ordinary people rather than a small powerful group

aims to win broad public support rather than only represent people
mainstreamy
vspopularist
  • Informal
9.1

Like things most people like in music or film

aims to attract wide public support rather than only following trends

Antonyms

exclusive
399 5.4

Only for one person, group, or purpose and not shared

elitist
23 6.8

A person who thinks some people are better and should have more power

How Popular

popularist
6.0
appealing
138 2.3
specialized
  • US
70 5.4
esoteric
  • Formal
26 9.7

Surface Forms

popularist positive

Morphology

popularist = popular (transparent) = popular + ist

The meaning is directly derived from the adjective 'popular' plus the productive suffix '-ist' (denoting relation or tendency), so the relation is clear to learners.

Etymology

Popularist comes from the word popular (from a root meaning 'people' and 'liked by many') plus the ending -ist ('relating to'). So a popularist idea or policy is made to please many people and win wide public support.