apparatchik

noun

Definition of apparatchiknext
as in minion
disapproving a very loyal member of an organization (such as a company or political party) who always obeys orders party apparatchiks

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of apparatchik The group ventriloquized the voices of authority—parents, school principals, cops, military officers, judges, politicians, newscasters, Soviet apparatchiks—and turned them into expressions of mass insanity. — Andrew Katzenstein, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026 Regardless, the new corporate owners of the network, embodied by the late, great Robert Duvall‘s C-suite apparatchik, get on board. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2026 This agitprop is vomited out 24/7 by Democrat media apparatchiks who were also unerringly described by Orwell in his novel 1984. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025 Modi began his career as an RSS apparatchik before being sent by the organization to work for the BJP. — Hartosh Singh Bal, Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparatchik
  1. minion
  2. soldier
  3. lackey
  4. adherent
Noun
  • Gavin Newsom’s legislative minions just got a lesson in constitutional supremacy.
    — , FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • There are references to demons, being burned alive, and the duende king explicitly commands his minions to kill Jo and Raissa.
    — Parents, Parents, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of minion
Noun
  • The murder of two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank is the jumping-off point for a large-scale invasion of the Palestinian territory, a move that would further test the nation’s fraying relationship with the United States.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 24 Oct. 2026
  • In April, a US Army soldier was arrested and charged with using confidential information to make $410,000 in Polymarket bets on the timing of the military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of soldier
Noun
  • Between those movies, mostly offscreen, Vision and Ultron’s turncoat lackey Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) fell in love.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
  • For Burr, that his character, in reality, had been replaced by corporate lackeys explains so much of what’s wrong with the world.
    — Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of lackey
Noun
  • But experts and adherents alike warn that this idea fails to reckon with how different traditions and worldviews can often contradict one another.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • And what's wild is that the Coke drinking habit has another notable adherent.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of adherent

Browse Nearby Words

appanages
apparatchik
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Cite this Entry

“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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