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
-
Moscow has been relying on assistance from North Korean soldiers to push back Kyiv’s advances in the Kursk region of Russia, and has been steadily advancing on the ground in eastern Ukraine, while the US attempts to broker talks that would end the conflict.—
Anna Chernova and Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2025
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Around the time of Jesus’s birth, tens of thousands of Roman soldiers marched into Judea to suppress an insurrection, a brutal campaign recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Wide range of protesters That message appears to be gathering a broader range of adherents than previous waves of popular protests against Mr. Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian style of government.—
Fariba Nawa,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 Mar. 2025
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Trump supporters who are adherents of the Heritage Foundation’s 900-page Project 2025 policy guidebook backed a proposal to raise the retirement age from 67 to 69.—
Alexis Simendinger,
The Hill,
26 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 9 Apr. 2025.
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