'anti-expressionist' originates from Modern English, specifically built from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') and 'expressionist' (from 'expressionism' + agentive suffix '-ist').

'expressionist' derives from 'expressionism' (an early 20th-century art and literary movement), which in turn comes from 'expression' (from Old French 'expression' and Latin 'expressio', from 'exprimere' meaning 'to press out'). The compound 'anti-' + 'expressionist' arose in English to denote opposition to that movement.

Initially, the elements conveyed 'against' + 'one who follows expressionism'; over time the compound has retained that basic sense and is used to describe both people and works opposed to Expressionist principles.