Home › Relationships › Community & Civic Duty › grassroots

grassroots

GRASS-roots /ˈɡræsruːts/

adjectivenounB2SATIELTS

NeutralPolitical

The most basic level of an activity or organization; ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization's membership.

Emphasizes that power or movement comes from the bottom up (the people) rather than from the top down (leaders).

The story behind the word. This is an Americanism from the early 20th century. It uses the metaphor of the roots of grass to represent the very foundation of the soil—the common people. It became popular during the 1912 Theodore Roosevelt campaign.

Word relationships

populist: Populist can sometimes have a negative connotation of manipulating the masses; grassroots is almost always positive and organic.
bottom-up: Bottom-up is a more technical, organizational term; grassroots is more evocative and social.

top-down: Top-down movements are led by elites or executives, whereas grassroots come from the people.
elite: Elite refers to the small, powerful group at the top, the opposite of the grassroots populace.

Commonly confused with

astroturfing: Astroturfing is a fake grassroots movement funded by a corporation to look like it's from the people.

Collocations

grassroots movement
grassroots level
grassroots campaign
grassroots support

Example sentences

"The grassroots of this country are the people who work in the fields and the factories." Political history.
"The new recycling program was a grassroots initiative started by a group of concerned neighbors." Community organizing.

Memory hook

Power grows from the 'Roots' of the 'Grass' (the people). From the ground up.

When not to use

Don't use for movements started by corporations or government officials, even if they claim to be popular.

Fun facts

The term 'astroturfing' (fake grass) was coined specifically to describe fake grassroots movements.