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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Recent Examples of apparatchik
Khamenei will decide which hardline apparatchik appears on the ballot to replace him.
—
Karl Vick, TIME, 23 May 2024
There were several oligarchs who helped Putin rise from a K.G.B. apparatchik in Leningrad to autocrat in the Kremlin.
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
In the intensely ideological and conformist atmosphere of today’s China, no apparatchik will depart from the safety of the party line without a clear signal from the leader.
—Danny Russel, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2021
Decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cold War ideology continues to form Western perceptions of the Eastern Bloc as a backward region, uniformly totalitarian, where everybody was either an apparatchik or a dissident.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Karl Vick, TIME, 23 May 2024
There were several oligarchs who helped Putin rise from a K.G.B. apparatchik in Leningrad to autocrat in the Kremlin.
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
In the intensely ideological and conformist atmosphere of today’s China, no apparatchik will depart from the safety of the party line without a clear signal from the leader.
—Danny Russel, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2021
Decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cold War ideology continues to form Western perceptions of the Eastern Bloc as a backward region, uniformly totalitarian, where everybody was either an apparatchik or a dissident.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparatchik
Noun
-
The dancer parts include minions, palace guards, enchanted birds and a hunting party.—
San Diego Union-Tribune,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Mar. 2025
-
Two months into Donald Trump’s second term, his Republican attack dogs, including Elon Musk and his minions at DOGE, are still busy chewing into many parts of the federal government.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Facilitating mankind’s victory has been an invention that allows flesh-and-blood soldiers to control mechanized drone bodies with half their minds while the other halves enjoy, say, margaritas on a digital beach.—
Graham Hillard,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
21 Mar. 2025
-
The palace appeared to be in ruins, with soldiers stepping on broken tiles.—
Samy Magdy and Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The other nephew is still an ardent adherent to the cult and has gifted much of his substantial wealth to it.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Nostalgia for the pre-Brown era would not exercise nearly so powerful a grip on Black America today if its adherents focused on its detailed, pervasive inhumanities rather than relying on gauzy glimpses.—
Justin Driver,
The Atlantic,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Neither Evil Steve Jobs nor his mercenary lackey are given much of a motor and oppressive presence.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
7 Mar. 2025
-
The long-tail effect of all this is to make Quinn and all his many lackeys seem as toothless a threat as Zachary Beck is.—
Chris Klimek,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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