apparatchik
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 8 April 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 8, 2025 is:
apparatchik • \ah-puh-RAH-chik\ • noun
Apparatchik is used disapprovingly to refer to a blindly devoted official, follower, or member of an organization, such as a corporation or political party.
// This generation of graduates wants more out of life than to become establishment apparatchiks.
Examples:
"Played by What We Do in the Shadows' Matt Berry, Shazbor is a faithful party apparatchik and staunch defender of his country's traditions ..." — Damon Wise, Deadline, 25 Jan. 2025
Did you know?
The apparat in apparatchik (a term English speakers borrowed from Russian) essentially means "party machine," with machine referring to a highly organized political group under the leadership of a boss or small group of individuals: apparatchik originally referred to someone functioning as a cog in the system of the Communist Party. The term is not a flattering one, and its negative connotations reflect the perception of some Communists as obedient drones in the great Party machine. In current use, however, a person doesn't have to be a member of the Communist Party to be called an apparatchik; they just have to be someone who mindlessly follows orders in an organization or bureaucracy.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Word of the Day podcast for April 8th. |
| 0:11.5 | Today's word is Apparachic, spelled A-P-P-P-A-R-A-T-C-H-I-K. |
| 0:19.9 | Apparachic is a noun. It's used disapprovingly to refer to a blindly devoted |
| 0:24.4 | official follower or member of an organization, such as a corporation or political party. |
| 0:30.5 | Here's the word used. In a sentence from Deadline, played by What We Do in the Shadows, Matt Berry, |
| 0:37.2 | Shasbore is a faithful party apparatchic and staunch defender of his country's traditions. |
| 0:43.3 | The apparat in Apparachic, a term English speakers borrowed from Russian, essentially means party machine, |
| 0:50.3 | with machine referring to a highly organized political group under the leadership of a boss |
| 0:56.3 | or small group of individuals. Apparachic originally referred to someone functioning as a cog in the |
| 1:02.5 | system of the Communist Party. The term is not a flattering one, and its negative connotations |
| 1:08.8 | reflect the perception of some communists as obedient drones |
| 1:13.1 | in the Great Party machine. In current use, however, a person doesn't have to be a member of the |
| 1:18.7 | Communist Party to be called an apparatchik. They just have to be someone who mindlessly follows orders |
| 1:24.4 | in an organization or bureaucracy. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
| 1:32.4 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
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