Cryptofascist

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Someone who secretly harbors fascist ideologies while presenting a moderate or democratic facade to the outside world
2. A person who conceals authoritarian or fascist sympathies behind a veneer of conventional or mainstream political positions
3. An individual who privately embraces fascist principles but masks these beliefs through outwardly acceptable or disguised public statements

Etymology: Cryptofascist is a plain modern compound, built by attaching the prefix "crypto-" to "fascist." The prefix comes from Ancient Greek "kruptos," meaning "hidden" or "concealed," the same root behind words like "cryptic" and "crypt." So the literal sense is something like "hidden fascist," a person who holds fascist views while concealing them or presenting as something else. "Fascist" has its own older chain. It traces to Latin "fascis," a bundle of rods with an axe head that Roman magistrates carried as a symbol of authority, and Italian "fascio," meaning a bundle or group. The Italian Fascists took up the name in the early twentieth century, and "fascist" then spread into English as a general term of political abuse as well as a label for that movement. Since "crypto-" was attached to it, the compound has been used for people accused of covert sympathies with fascism, especially in the decades after the Second World War. The formation follows the same pattern as other "crypto-" words such as "cryptocommunist," which shows how readily the prefix was combined with political labels.

Synonyms: closet fascist, hidden fascist