Bolshevik
or bol·she·vik
[ bohl-shuh-vik, bol-; Russian buh l-shi-vyeek ]
/ ˈboʊl ʃə vɪk, ˈbɒl-; Russian bəl ʃɪˈvyik /
noun, plural Bol·she·viks, Bol·she·vik·i [bohl-shuh-vik-ee, -vee-kee; Russian buh l-shi-vyi-kyee] /ˈboʊl ʃəˌvɪk i, -ˌvi ki; Russian bəl ʃɪ vyɪˈkyi/.
(in Russia)
- a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic Party, 1903–17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.
- (after 1918) a member of the Russian Communist Party.
(loosely) a member of any Communist party.
(often lowercase) Disparaging.
a contemptuous term used to refer to an extreme radical or revolutionary.
Origin of Bolshevik
1915–20; < Russian
bolʾshevík, equivalent to
bólʾsh(iĭ) larger, greater (comparative of
bolʾshóĭ large; compare
bolʾshinstvó majority) +
-evik, variant of
-ovik noun suffix; cf.
Menshevik
usage note for Bolshevik
When
Bolshevik is used to refer to an extreme radical, it implies that such a person has a strongly felt subversive or combative ideology counter to the status quo. The 20-century poets T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were called
literary Bolsheviks by a writer in a London newspaper.
OTHER WORDS FROM Bolshevik
an·ti-Bol·she·vik, noun, adjective non-Bol·she·vik, noun pro-Bol·she·vik, adjective, nounBritish Dictionary definitions for anti bolshevik
Bolshevik
/ (ˈbɒlʃɪvɪk) /
noun plural -viks or -viki (-ˈviːkɪ)
(formerly) a Russian Communist
Compare Menshevik
any Communist
(often not capital) jocular, derogatory
any political radical, esp a revolutionary
Derived forms of Bolshevik
Bolshevism, noun Bolshevist, adjective, noun Bolshevistic, adjectiveWord Origin for Bolshevik
C20: from Russian
Bol'shevik majority, from
bol'shoi great; from the fact that this group formed a majority of the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1903