Cryptocommunists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who privately adhere to communist ideology while outwardly concealing or denying those political convictions
2. People who keep their Marxist or communist views hidden, often while living within non-communist society or institutions
3. Adherents of communism who conceal their allegiance, especially those working undercover within capitalist or hostile political systems

Etymology: "Cryptocommunist" is a plain compound built from two parts. The first, "crypto-", comes from Ancient Greek "kryptos", meaning "hidden" or "secret", the same root behind "cryptic" and "crypt". The second is "communist", which English borrowed from French "communiste", itself based on Latin "communis", "shared" or "common". Put together, the word describes someone who hides a communist allegiance behind a more acceptable public face. The plural "cryptocommunists" simply names more than one such person. Its base, "communist", traces back through French to the Latin "communis", while the "crypto-" prefix is the Greek element that gives the word its sense of concealment. Because the prefix attaches to a political label, the compound carries the sense of concealed political affiliation rather than any literal hiding.