socialist

socialist — noun

1. a person who believes that a society's main industries and services should be ow

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who believes that a society's main industries and services should be owned or controlled by the government, with wealth shared more fairly among all people; also, someone who belongs to a political party that supports this idea

Example

Élise became a socialist after joining a student activist group at university.

became a socialist + reason clause

Kwame, a well-known socialist from Ghana, spoke about free healthcare at the rally.

a [modifier] socialist from [place]

Common collocations
  • committed socialist
  • lifelong socialist
  • democratic socialist
  • market socialist
  • fellow socialist
Synonyms
  • left-winger

    broader term covering anyone on the left of the political spectrum, not necessarily a committed socialist

  • communist

    more radical; implies belief in a classless society, often through revolutionary change

  • progressive

    broader and milder; supports gradual reform rather than full systemic change

Antonyms
  • capitalist

    someone who supports private ownership and free-market economics

  • conservative

    typically opposes the expansion of government ownership and welfare programs

Grammar Patterns

a socialist

socialists + verb

a [modifier] socialist

Usage Note

Commonly paired with political modifiers such as 'democratic', 'market', or 'anti-capitalist'. The noun form refers to the person; the adjective form describes policies or systems.

Common Mistakes

She is a socialism.
She is a socialist.
'socialism' is the name of the system; 'socialist' is the person who supports it.
He joined the social party.
He joined the socialist party.
'social' means relating to society generally; 'socialist' means related to the political system of socialism.

socialist — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Left-wing, communist, and progressive all overlap with socialist but differ in scope and connotation. Left-wing is the broadest term — it covers anyone who favours social equality and government intervention, from moderate social democrats to radicals. Communist is more specific and typically implies a revolutionary path, state ownership of all production, and often single-party rule; it carries stronger historical and ideological weight. Progressive is the mildest and most modern term — it describes someone who supports gradual social reform, not necessarily full socialism. In practice, a politician might be called left-wing for supporting higher taxes, socialist for advocating state-owned healthcare, and communist only if they call for abolishing private property entirely. Example: 'The candidate's left-wing views include socialist policies like free college, but she is not a communist.'

left-wingcommunist ↗progressive ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • genuinely socialist
  • openly socialist
  • traditionally socialist

Phrases

  • convert to socialism
  • move toward a socialist system

Prepositions

  • socialist in approach
  • socialist by conviction

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Socialist comes from the Latin word 'socius', meaning companion or ally — the same root that gave us 'society' and 'social'. The word first appeared in the early 1800s in French as 'socialiste', used to describe thinkers who wanted society organised around cooperation rather than competition. It entered English around the 1830s, initially as a label for followers of Robert Owen and other early reform movements. The suffix '-ist' indicates a person who holds a particular set of beliefs.