entryism means A political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits or to encourage an unelectable candidate. It carries an Arena rating of 1180, earned across 160 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, entryism ranks #127 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,056 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #5,388 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #5,666 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “entryism” is a great word
ENTRYISM — [Noun] A political strategy in which an organization encourages its members to join another, typically larger, organization to gain recruits or subvert its agenda from within. From English entry + -ism (denoting a practice or doctrine), modeled after French entrisme; first attested in 1966. Unlike "infiltration" (a broad, often covert act of entering) or "coalition" (a formal alliance between distinct groups), entryism is a doctrinal practice of patient, concealed colonization. It is the quiet member taking meticulous minutes, the gradual shift in a newsletter's tone, and the disciplined comrade steering a policy debate—a politics not of open conflict, but of the long, subterranean fuse.
Etymology
Previously spelt entrism, borrowed from French entrisme but reconstructed as entry + -ism.
noun
- A political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits or to encourage an unelectable candidate.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- entryist 75% match — A participant in or proponent of entryism. vs entryism →
- entrist 72% match — entryist vs entryism →
- encroachment 57% match — An entry into a place or area that was previously uncommon; an advance beyond former borders; intrusion; incursion. vs entryism →
- incursion 57% match — A military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of destruction, plunder, or bodily harm rather than an intent to conquer territory or alter the established government; contrast invasion in its narrow sense. vs entryism →
- infiltrate 56% match — To surreptitiously penetrate, enter or gain access to. vs entryism →
- interloping 55% match — An act of intrusion or encroachment. vs entryism →
- ingression 54% match — The act or process of entering or intruding. vs entryism →
- intervasion 54% match — A military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of intervention in some troubled situation. vs entryism →