Word.ws English Dictionary

horseshoe theory

horseshoe theory proper noun: the theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political continuum, in fact closely resemble one another.

horseshoe theory: the theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political...
Image: richard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun

the horseshoe theory

  1. The theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political continuum, in fact closely resemble one another.
    • There is some evidence, contradictory as it is, that if the PDS [Party of Democratic Socialism] did not exist, then the consequence would be a strengthening of the DVU [German People's Union], the NPD [National Democratic Party of Germany] and the Republikaner […] This does not mean, however, that...2000, Peter Thompson, “The PDS: Marx's Baby or Stalin's Bathwater?”, in Peter Barker, editor, The GDR and its History: Rückblick und Revision (German Monitor; 49), Rodopi, →ISBN, page 103
    • Some political scientists have suggested a “horseshoe theory,” with the center as the rounded top of a horseshoe and the two fringes on either end, but inclined toward one another. This image, while evocative, isn’t quite right. In the archive, it looks more like a circle.2022 December 14, Kathleen Belew, “The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline”, in The Atlantic

Origin of horseshoe theory

Referring to the curved shape of a horseshoe, whose two ends come close to meeting.

Questions about horseshoe theory

What does horseshoe theory mean?
Horseshoe theory means the theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political continuum, in fact closely resemble one another.
What part of speech is horseshoe theory?
Horseshoe theory is a proper noun.

Words near horseshoe theory in the dictionary

  1. horseshoe mustache
  2. horseshoe nail
  3. horseshoe nails
  4. horseshoe sandwich
  5. horseshoe sandwiches
  6. horseshoe theory
  7. horseshoe up one's ass
  8. horseshoe vetch
  9. horseshoe vetches
  10. horseshoe worm
  11. horseshoe worms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: horseshoe theory (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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