'anticommunistic' originates from the combining prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') plus 'communistic' (from 'communism' + adjectival suffix '-ic').

'communis' (Latin, meaning 'common') → French 'communisme' (19th c.) → English 'communism' → adjective 'communistic' → combined with 'anti-' to form 'anticommunistic' in modern English.

The prefix 'anti-' originally and consistently meant 'against'; 'communism' originally referred to common ownership or communal practices and later developed into the political ideology sense. 'Anticommunistic' thus came to mean 'against the ideology or practices of communism.'