Bolshevik

noun

Bol·​she·​vik ˈbōl-shə-ˌvik 

ˈbȯl-,

ˈbäl-,

-ˌvēk 

plural Bolsheviks also Bolsheviki ˌbōl-shə-ˈvi-kē 

ˌbȯl-,

ˌbäl-,

-ˈvē-kē

1

: a member of the extremist wing of the Russian Social Democratic party that seized power in Russia by the Revolution of November 1917

2

: communist sense 3

Bolshevik adjective

Examples of Bolshevik in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If such a figure had actually existed, the Russian Revolution may have gone very differently, to the chagrin of Romanov and Bolshevik alike. —Sean T. Collins, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024

This episode, too, touched upon my family: in 1918, my father, a member of the Royal Naval Reserve, boarded a gunboat on its way to join American, French, and other Allied contingents to fight against Bolshevik forces in Murmansk, one of the towns featured in Taub’s piece. —The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

In it, McGregor plays Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, an aristocrat who, after returning to Russia from Paris following the October Revolution, is sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal and spends decades in an attic hotel room. —Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024

In 1917, after years of living in exile, Bolshevik leaders returned home. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Russian bol'shevik, from bol'shiĭ greater

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing Bolshevik

• anti-Bolshevik

Kids Definition

Bolshevik

noun

Bol·​she·​vik ˈbōl-shə-ˌvik  ˈbȯl- 

ˈbäl-,

-ˌvēk

plural Bolsheviks or Bolsheviki ˌbōl-shə-ˈvik-ē 

ˌbȯl-,

ˌbäl-,

-ˈvē-kē

1

: a member of the communist party that seized power in Russia by the Revolution of November 1917

2

: communist sense 2

Bolshevik adjective