crypto-fascist

or cryp·to·fas·cist

[ krip-toh-fash-ist ]

adjective

1. secretly supporting, affiliated with, or conforming to fascism:

   Their policy of conducting closed-door military trials for noncitizens only has been called crypto-fascist.

noun

1. a person who secretly supports or is sympathetic to fascism:

   Although initially a crypto-fascist, he soon transitioned to open declarations of support.

Word History and Origins

Origin of crypto-fascist¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Crypto-fascist candidate Jeryd Mencken promises Roman he’ll block the sale if ATN helps him win election night.

From Los Angeles Times

In a since-deleted tweet, Zink described the novel as “a utopian critique of the crypto-fascist aesthetics of commercial art.”

From Washington Post

How is it, then, that this crypto-fascist could end up as Chile’s next president?

From Los Angeles Times

But they, rather than the likes of Greene, must be the future of the Republican Party if it is to survive as a viable political institution rather than a crypto-fascist sect with Mar-a-Lago as its Jerusalem.

From Washington Post

There’s a chapter in this new book where you put together tweets reacting to Reacher, and one person whose tweet you include describes the Reacher books as “crypto-fascist.”

From Slate