Pinko is a pejorative term for a person on the left of the political spectrum. The term has its origins in the notion that pink is a lighter shade of red, a color associated with communism. Thus pink could describe a "lighter form of communism", purportedly promoted by supporters and believers of socialism who were not themselves actual or "card carrying" communists. The term pinko has a pejorative sense, whereas "pink" in this definition can be used in a purely descriptive sense, such as in the term pink tide.