agitprop
Syllables: agit·prop/ˈædʒɪtpɹɒp/US/ˈæd͡ʒətˌpɹɑp/
agitprop noun: political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Noun
agitprop (countable and uncountable, plural agitprops)
- Political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- Russian Twitter and Facebook bots trolled both the left and the right with agitprop — in what appears to have been a general effort to deepen divisions and sow political chaos in America, not to favor one party or candidate over the other.2017 November 19, Paul Sperry, “Here are some of the biggest myths of the Russian-collusion story”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2024
- The letter was pure puffery, probably written by some clerk in North Korea's agitprop bureau, but [Donald] Trump loved it.2020 June 23, John Bolton, “The Singapore Sling”, in The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 96
- An instance of such propaganda.
- An organization or person engaged in disseminating such propaganda.
Verb
agitprop (third-person singular simple present agitprops, present participle agitpropping, simple past and past participle agitpropped)
- To disseminate (something as) political propaganda, especially communist propaganda, through art, drama, literature, etc.
- Anyone who has seen a class struggler at work, agitpropping around Union Square, or the back streets of the Loop, realizes that, by the very nature of things, he or she is so possessed of that particular barricading dream as to lose touch with all reality, [...]1929, Harry W[ellington] Laidler, Norman Thomas, editors, The Socialism of Our Times: A Symposium (Prelude to Depression), New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, published 1976, →ISBN, page 241
- With respect to a poet's facility in logomachy, boredom in the area of power politics theorisation, the seriousness or gaiety with which he agitprops his ego, the degree of his attitude toward the superior poet, or the rebelliousness or conformity of his disciples?1957, Trace, London: Villiers Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10
Examples of agitprop in a sentence
- Like most pieces of agitprop, the Lucas and Sargent paper vastly overstated the deficiencies of the old order.2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 2:
- This is to suggest that the university will leave behind its more limited work and bourgeois integrity in order to undertake the task of brain-trusting and agitpropping for the revolution.1971, Stephen D[enis] Kertesz, editor, The Task of Universities in a Changing World (International Studies of the Committee on...
- Envoys and missionaries agitpropped in the four corners of the Empire, [...]1987, Fatma Mansur, Phoenix in Her Blood: A Historical Entertainment, Beverley, North Humberside: Eothen Press, →ISBN, page 157:
- I knew that he [Allen Van Newkirk] agitpropped other poetry readings and media events, e.g. the Underground Press Syndicate conference in Madison (shouting, "All media are lies").2005, Richard Grossinger, On the Integration of Nature: Post-9/11 Biopolitical Notes, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page...
Forms of agitprop
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | agitprops |
| alternative form | agit prop |
| alternative form | agit-prop |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | agitprops |
| present participle | agitpropping |
| past participle | agitpropped |
| past | agitpropped |
Origin of agitprop
The noun is borrowed from Russian агитпро́п (agitpróp, “agitprop”), Агитпро́п (Agitpróp, “Agitprop (Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Soviet Union)”), short for отде́л агитации и пропаганды (otdél agitacii i propagandy, “Department for Agitation and Propaganda”); analysable as a blend of agitation + propaganda. The verb is derived from the noun.
Words formed from agitprop
Questions about agitprop
- What does agitprop mean?
- Agitprop means political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- How do you use agitprop in a sentence?
- Like most pieces of agitprop, the Lucas and Sargent paper vastly overstated the deficiencies of the old order.
- What part of speech is agitprop?
- Agitprop can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce agitprop?
- Agitprop is pronounced /ˈædʒɪtpɹɒp/ (UK).
- What is the plural of agitprop?
- The plural of agitprop is agitprops.
Words near agitprop in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: agitprop (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-agitprop.wav.
Cite this entry: “agitprop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/agitprop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.