'anti-left' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-'), meaning 'against,' combined with the English word 'left' used in the political sense.

'left' as a political term arose from seating positions during the French Revolution (those who sat on the left were more radical). The Old English word 'lyft' originally meant 'weak' or 'foolish' for the physical 'left' side, but the political meaning developed later through French and modern English usage; the compound 'anti-left' is a modern English formation using the prefix 'anti-' + political 'left'.

Initially, 'left' referred simply to a side (and had older connotations like 'weak' in Old English), but over time it acquired the political sense of 'progressive or radical' and 'anti-left' came to mean 'against left-wing politics.'