ultraleft

• ultra-left

Ultimately a calque of Russian ультралевый (ulʹtralevyj, “ultraleft”, adjective), in the sense of "pertaining to extreme or uncompromising leftist ideology." From ультра- (ulʹtra-, “ultra; extremely”) +‎ левый (levyj, “left”, adjective), equivalent to ultra- +‎ left. Originally applied pejoratively by the Bolsheviks against libertarian socialists and early left communists, and later by Stalinists against Trotskyists; now also used neutrally to refer to certain ideologies associated with left communism or traditional Marxism. The modern meanings are partially semantically loaned from French ultra-gauche.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌl.tɹəˈlɛft/

ultraleft (comparative more ultraleft or further ultraleft or farther ultraleft, superlative most ultraleft or furthest ultraleft or farthest ultraleft)

1. Of or pertaining to ultraleftism.
   • 2011, Hal Draper, chapter 13, in Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution, volume 1, section 1, page 284:

     This rejection of anything connected with bourgeois democracy would later become associated mainly with ultraleft radicalism, but its beginnings were another matter.

2. (far-left, derogatory) Of a leftist movement or ideology: extreme and uncompromising; sectarian.
3. (generally) Extremely left-wing.

ultraleft (usually uncountable, plural ultralefts)

1. (collective) The strain or strains of leftism often associated with left communism, which practice rejection of both social democracy and state socialism as well as opposition to Leninism; i.e, ultraleftism.
2. (strictly) The left communist tendency characterized by a synthesis of Dutch-German council communism and Italian left communism.
3. (by extension) Italian left communism; Bordigism.
4. (far-left, derogatory) Leftism collectively considered uncompromising and sectarian, especially anti-Leninist Marxism.
5. (rare, countable) An adherent of ultraleftism.
6. (generally) The most extreme ideologies of the political left.

• The form ultra-left is more common in formal writing, especially outside the context of leftism.

• left communism